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Kennebec 


THE  STORY   OF  ITS  CONSTRUCTION 
IN    1754    AND    WHAT  HAS 
HAPPENED  THERE 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


THE  GANNETT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
AUGUSTA,  MAINE 
1922 


Zbc  lEarl?  Settlemcnta  on  tbe 
Ikennebec  iRiver 


^•P^HE  head  of  navigation  on 
the  Kennebec  river  is  at 
Augusta,  formerly  Cushnoc, 
an  Indian  name  meaning  ''the  place 
of  the  pines".  Probably  the  first 
Enghshmen  to  visit  this  spot  were 
men  who  arrived  in  1607  to  plant  a 
colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  at 
that  time  called  the  Sagadahoc. 
Capt.  George  Popham  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  company  and  a  fort 
and  other  buildings  were  built  at 
Small  Point,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  where  the  winter  was  spent 
during  which  time  a  small  vessel 
was  built.  The  next  year,  in  the 
late  fall,  the  settlement  was  aban- 
doned and  the  company  returned  to 
England.  The  ''Relation"  of  what 
occurred  at  the  Popham  settlement 
preserves  the  fact  that  Capt.  Raw- 
leigh  Gilbert,  with  nineteen  men,  on 
Sept.  23,  1607,  sailed  up  the  river 
Sagadahoc  (the  Kennebec)  and  after 
two  and  a  half  days  reached  the  head 
of  navigation,  the  small  falls  at  what 
is  now  Augusta.  The  expedition 
passed  the  falls  and  went  into  camp 
about  a  league  farther  up  the  river 
where  some  Indians   speaking  in 


broken  Enghsh  hailed  them  from 
the  opposite  bank.  The  next  morn- 
ing, Saturday,  Sept.  26,  1607,  four 
Indians  appeared,  one  of  whom 
announced  himself  as  "Sebanoa, 
Lord  of  the  river  of  Sagadahock" 
and  asked  for  what  purpose  the 
expedition  had  come  to  their  coun- 
try. Here,  most  unfortunately,  the 
"Relation"  ends,  the  remaining 
pages  of  the  original  manuscript 
having  been  lost. 

Long  before  the  coming  of  the 
white  man,  the  river  had  been  not 
only  a  center  for  several  tribes  of 
Indians  but  also  a  highway  for  com- 
munication between  the  north  and 
the  sea  coast,  by  which  inter-tribal 
barter  was  carried  on  and  later  con- 
ducted with  fishermen  who  fre- 
quented the  coast  at  an  early  period. 
The  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  needing 
supplies,  in  May  1622,  sent  Edward 
Winslow  and  others  in  a  boat  to  the 
eastward  in  search  of  the  fishing 
vessels  that  frequented  the  waters 
near  the  island  of  Monhegan.  They 
found  "about  thirty  sail  of  ships" 
at  Damariscove  Island  and  while 
there  learned  of  a  trade  in  valuable 


3 


]fort  Meetern  on  tbe  ikennebec 


furs.  At  that  time  the  Pilgrims  had 
nothing  to  barter  with  the  Indians 
and  it  was  not  until  after  the  harvest 
of  1625,  when  they  had  a  smplus  of 
Indian  corn,  that  they  embarked  on 
this  venture  in  trade.  Governor 
Bradford  in  his  History  of  Plymouth 
Plantation,  relates  the  story  in  the 
following  words : — 

"After  harvest  this  year,  they 
sende  out  a  boats  load  of  corne  40  or 
50  leagues  to  ye  eastward,  up  a  river 
called  Kenibeck;  it  being  one  of 
those  2  shalops  which  their  carpen- 
ter had  built  them  ye  year  before; 
for  bigger  vessell  had  they  none. 
They  had  laid  a  little  deck  over  her 
midships  to  keepe  ye  corne  drie,  but 
ye  men  were  faine  to  stand  it  out  all 
weathers  without  shelter;  andyt  time 
of  ye  year  begins  to  growe  tempes- 
tious.  But  God  preserved  them,  and 
gave  them  good  success,  for  they 
brought  home  700  li.  of  beaver,  be- 
sides some  other  furs,  having  litle  or 
nothing  else  but  this  corne,  which 
them  selves  had  raised  out  of  ye 
earth.  This  viage  was  made  by  Mr. 
Winslow  &  some  of  ye  old  stand- 
ards, for  seamen  they  had  none." 

At  that  time  the  Pilgrims  were 
deeply  in  debt  to  the  Company  of 
the  Merchant  Adventurers  in  Lon- 
don and  the  successful  trading  voy- 
age to  the  Kennebec  river  seems  to 
have  suggested  to  Governor  Brad- 
ford a  plan  by  which  this  indebted- 
ness might  be  discharged.  So  Mr. 
Allerton  was  sent  to  England  in  1627 
with  an  order  ' '  to  procure  a  patente 
for  a  fitt  trading  place  in  ye  river 


Kenebeck;  for  being  emulated  both 
by  the  planters  at  Pascataway  & 
other  places  to  ye  eastward  of  them, 
and  also  by  ye  fishing  vessels, 
which  used  to  draw  much  profite 
from  ye  Indians  of  those  parts,  they 
threatened  to  procure  a  grante,  and 
shutte  them  out  from  thence."  Al- 
lerton returned  to  Plymouth  in  the 
spring  of  1628  bringing  with  him  "a 
reasonable  supply  of  goods  for  ye 
plantation  and  also  a  patente  for 
Kenebeck,  but  it  was  so  straite  and 
ill  bounded,  as  they  were  fane  to 
renew  &  inlarge  it  the  next  year." 

The  Kennebec  patent  describes 
the  bounds  of  the  grant  made  at  that 
time  as  follows: — "  all  that  tract  of 
land  .  .  .  which  lyeth  within,  or  be- 
tween, and  extendeth  itself  from  ye 
utmost  limit  of  Cobiseconte,  which 
adjoineth  ye  river  Kennebeck,  to- 
wards the  western  Ocean,  and  a 
place,  ye  falls  of  Nequamkick  and 
ye  space  of  fifteen  English  miles  on 
each  side  of  said  river,  and  all  ye  said 
river  Kennebeck  that  lyeth  within 
the  said  limits",  and  authority  was 
given  to  seize  any  persons  or  ships 
that  thereafter  should  attempt  to 
inhabit  or  trade  with  the  Indians 
within  the  limits  of  the  grant.  The 
patent  included  about  1,500, 000  acres 
of  land.  The  Cobiseconte — meaning 
"the  sturgeon  stream  place" — a 
small  river  still  known  by  that  name, 
enters  the  Kennebec  about  six  miles 
below  Augusta,  and  the  "falls  of  the 
Nequamkick,"  according  to  a  de- 
position made  in  1763  by  William 
Lithgow,  were  the  rapids  existing  in 


4 


Bbwarb  Minslow 

GOVERNOR  AT  PLYMOUTH.  MASSACHUSETTS 
HE  WAS  IN  THE  PILGRIM  SHALLOP  THAT  CAME  TO  THE  KENNEBEC  IN  1625 


the  Kennebec  about  six  miles  below 
the  Taconic  falls  at  what  is  now 
Waterville. 

Governor  Bradford  records  that 
'^having  procured  a  patente  for 
Kenebeck,  thay  now  erected  a  house 
up  above  in  ye  river  in  ye  most  con- 
venientest  place  for  trade,  as  they 
conceived,  and  furnished  the  same 
with  commodities  for  yt  end,  both 
winter  and  sommer,  not  only  with 
corne,  but  also  with  such  other  com- 
modities as  ye  fisherman  had  traded 


with  them,  as  coats,  shirts,  ruggs, 
&  blankets,  biskett,  pease,  prunes, 
&c.;  and  what  they  could  not  have 
out  of  England,  they  bought  of  the 
fishing  ships,  and  so  carried  on  their 
bussines  as  well  as  they  could." 

This  '  ^  convenientest  place"  was 
at  Cushnoc  or  Koussinoc,  now  Au- 
gusta, and  the  trading  house  was 
built  on  the  steep  easterly  bank  of 
the  river  where  Fort  Western  was 
erected  in  1754.  Undoubtedly  it  was 
a  log  structure  of  some  sort  and  pro- 


5 


fovt  Me0tern  on  tbe  ikennebec 


bably  it  was  surrounded  by  a  pali- 
sade. Capt.  Joseph  Bean,  who  was 
taken  captive  by  the  Indians  in 
1692,  relates  that  the  remains  of  the 
old  trading  post  were  then  visible 
among  the  new  growth  of  trees.  This 
was  sixty-four  years  after  it  was 
built. 

About  the  time  that  the  trading 
post  was  established,  the  Dutch  at 
New  Amsterdam  began  trading  at 
Plymouth,  supplying  sugar,  linen 
cloth  and  coarser  stuffs;  but  what 
turned  out  to  be  of  greatest  value 
was  a  considerable  supply  of  wam- 
pum which  the  Dutch  were  making 
for  the  Indian  trade  on  the  Hudson 
and  Connecticut  rivers. 

Wampum,  as  described  by  Roger 
WiUiams,  was  of  two  kinds, ' 'which 
the  Indians  make  of  the  stem  or 
stock  of  the  periwinkle  after  all  the 
shell  is  broken  off.  Of  this  kind,  six 
of  the  small  beads,  which  they  make 
with  holes  to  string  upon  their 
bracelet,  are  common  with  the  Eng- 
glish  for  a  penny.  The  other  kind  is 
black,  incHned  to  a  blue  shade, 
which  is  made  of  the  shell  of  the 
hensquahoc  [now  known  as  the  hen- 
clan)  or  quahaug]  and  of  this  de- 
scription three  are  equal  to  an  Eng- 
lish penny.  One  fathom  of  this 
stringed  money  is  worth  five  shil- 
lings." The  Narragansetts  and  Pe- 
quots,  both  powerful  tribes,  orig- 
inally manufactured  most  of  this 
money  and  grew  rich  by  it,  but  soon 
the  thrifty  Dutch  established  fac- 
tories where  it  was  made  in  such 
quantities   that  the  market  was 


broken  and  the  value  of  wampum 
rapidly  decreased. 

Bradford  relates  that  at  first  the 
wampum  ' '  stuck  and  it  was  two 
years  before  they  could  put  of  this 
small  quantity,  till  ye  inland  peo- 
ple knew  of  it;  and  afterwards  they 
could  scarce  ever  gett  enough  for 
them,  for  many  years  together."  It 
was  this  wampum  that  gave  the 
Pilgrims  such  advantage  in  compet- 
ing with  the  fishermen  and  other 
traders  that  soon  they  practically 
controlled  the  fur  trade  on  the  Ken- 
nebec river.  The  commodities  chief- 
ly used  by  the  Indians  were  trading 
cloth" — a  coarse  woolen  cloth — 
bread,  peas,  trinkets,  etc.  Between 
1631  and  1636  the  Pilgrims  shipped 
to  England  12,150  pounds  of  beaver 
and  1156  pounds  of  otter.  The  coat 
beaver  was  sold  at  twenty  shillings 
per  pound  and  it  was  estimated  by 
Bradford  that  the  shipments  of 
beaver  amounted  to  a  value  of  about 
£10,000,  the  otter  skins  paying  all 
the  charges.  It  was  this  fur  trade 
on  the  Kennebec  river  that  relieved 
the  Pilgrims  from  their  financial 
difficulties  and  extricated  them  from 
the  clutches  of  the  Merchant  Ad- 
venturers of  London. 

Beaver  skins  were  then  sold  at 
prices  varying  from  sixteen  to  twen- 
ty-four shiUings  per  pound  and  it  is 
interesting  to  note  by  way  of  com- 
parison the  scale  of  prices  of  other 
commodities  in  New  England  about 
that  time.  In  1633,  the  General 
('ourt  fixed  the  price  of  corn  at  six 
shillings  per  bushel.    Wood  quotes 


6 


Earl?  Settlements  on  tbe  ikennebec 


four  eggs  or  a  quart  of  milk  at  a  pen- 
ny, butter  at  six  pence,  and  Cheshire 
cheese  at  five  pence  per  pound.  In 
the  year  1633,  prices  at  Piscataqua 
in  New  Hampshire,  were  as  fol- 
lows: 10^2  gallons  vinegar  cost  2^2 
pounds  of  beaver;  half  a  barrel  of 
butter  was  worth  one  pound  and 
fourteen  ounces  of  beaver;  two  pairs 
of  shoes  and  two  axes  were  exchang- 
ed for  one  pound  of  beaver;  seven 
gallons  of  aqua  vitae  was  the  value 
of  two  otters  and  four  mushquash 
skins;  and  fourteen  fathoms  of  wam- 
pum were  exchanged  for  fifteen  and 
three-quarters  pounds  of  beaver. 

In  1634,  John  Howland  and  John 
Alden  were  in  charge  of  the  trading 
post  at  Cushnoc.  Howland  was  the 
'4ustie  yonge  man"  who  was  wash- 
ed overboard  from  the  ''May- 
flower" during  a  storm  but  for- 
tunately clutching  a  top-sail  hal- 
liard at  last  was  safely  hauled  a- 
board  again.  He  became  an  Assist- 
ant and  a  leading  man  in  the  Colony 
and  when  he  died  in  1672  was  "the 
last  man  that  was  left  of  those  that 
came  over  in  the  ship  called  the  May 
Flower."  John  Alden  was  a  cooper 
who  had  been  hired  to  come  over. 
He,  too,  became  an  Assistant  and 
prominent  man  and  has  been  immor- 
talized by  Longfellow  in  the  "Court- 
ship of  Miles  Standish."  These  men 
were  at  the  trading  post  in  the  early 
spring  of  1634  when  a  small  vessel 
commanding  by  one  Hocking,  came 
sailing  up  the  riverwith  the  intention 
of  trading  with  the  Indians,  clearly 
in  violation  of  the  rights  of  the 


Colony.  Howland  ''forbade  him 
from  going  up"  and  told  him  that 
he  was  infringing  upon  the  rights 
of  the  company,  but  Hocking  per- 
sisted and  sailed  past  the  post  and 
anchored  with  the  aim  to  intercept 
the  Indian  trade  as  it  came  down 
stream.  Howland  with  three  com- 
panions went  out  in  a  boat  and  told 
Hocking  that  they  would  be  forced 
to  remove  him  and  advised  him  to 
go  away  quietly.  This  was  received 
with  "foule  speeches"  and  Howland 
was  told  to  do  his  worst  and  he, 
after  a  consultation,  instructed  two 
of  his  men  to  go  in  a  small  canoe  and 
cut  the  cable  so  that  the  vessel 
would  drift  down  stream  with  the 
tide.  This  was  done,  but  just  as  the 
canoe  sheered  away  Hocking  shot 
and  instantly  killed  one  of  the  men 
in  the  canoe,  Moses  Talbott  by  name, 
whose  companion  ' '  that  loved  him 
well",  being  on  board  the  Pilgrim  ves- 
sel anchored  nearby,  at  once  seized  a 
musket  and  shot  Hocking  ' '  who  fell 
downe  dead  and  never  speake  word." 
Governor  Bradford  records  that ' '  the 
bruite  of  this  was  quickly  carried  all 
aboute  and  in  ye  worst  manner,"  so 
that  finally  a  council  was  held  at 
Boston  and  after  long  discussion 
"the  matter  tooke  happy  ending 
without  any  further  trouble." 

By  1638,  the  Plymouth  Colony 
had  become  more  prosperous  be- 
cause of  success  in  raising  corn  and 
cattle  that  were  sold  usually  at  high 
prices  and  in  consequence  trading  in 
furs  began  to  be  neglected  and  the 
trading  company  finally  released  its 


7 


ffort  Meatern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


rights  to  the  Colony  after  which  the 
trading  privilege  at  Cushnoc  was 
leased  from  time  to  time  to  asso- 
ciations. In  1648,  the  Indian  chief 
Natahanada  deeded  to  Gov.  William 
Bradford  and  his  associates,  land  on 
both  sides  of  the  river  from  ' '  Cush- 
€nocke  to  Wesserunskik."  In  1654, 
Lieut.  Thomas  South  worth  was  liv- 
ing at  Cushnoc  in  charge  of  the  trad- 
ing post  and  probably  had  been 
therefor  several  years.  He  was  a  son- 
in-law  of  Governor  Bradford,  having 
come  to  New  England  about  1623 
with  his  widowed  mother. 

In  1661,  the  Colony  sold  the  pa- 
tent to  John  Winslow  and  three 
others  for  £400  and  from  that  time 
on  these  owners  and  their  associ- 
ates were  known  as  ^'The  Proprie- 
tors of  the  Kennebec  Purchase." 
The  trade  with  the  Indians  seems 
to  have  been  neglected  by  these 
proprietors  and  to  have  drifted  into 
other  hands,  in  fact,  for  nearly 
ninety  years  the  title  lay  practically 
dormant  largely  because  of  the  un- 
settled relations  existing  between 
the  English  and  the  Indians  who, 
during  that  period,  were  dominated 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent  by  French 
influences  in  Canada. 

In  1717,  Sabastian  Rasle,  the 
French  priest  living  with  the  Indians 
at  Norridgewock,  notified  the  Mass- 
achusetts Governor  that  any  at- 
tempt to  occupy  the  lands  beyond 
the  Kennebec  would  lead  to  war. 
Seven  years  later  Captain  Harmon 
arrived  in  Boston  bringing  with  him 


the  scalp  of  ''Fryer"  Rasle  and 
twenty-seven  scalps  of  his  Indian 
followers,  the  result  of  a  raid  on  the 
village  at  Norridgewock.  Judge 
Sewall  records  in  his  diary  that  there 
was  great  shouting  and  triumph. 
"The  Lord  help  us  to  rejoice  with 
trembling"  he  continues. 

Fort  Richmond,  at  the  head  of 
Swan  Island,  was  built  by  the  Prov- 
ince of  Massachusetts  in  1723  as  a 
check  upon  the  Indians  and  a  gar- 
rison was  kept  there  until  Fort 
HaHfax  was  built  farther  up  the 
river  in  1754.  In  1732,  Governor 
Belcher  while  in  conference  with  the 
Indians  at  George's  river,  informed 
them  that  a  missionary  was  to  be 
sent  to  them  and  to  be  located  at 
Cushnoc  where  a  church  and  town 
were  to  be  built,  but  nothing  came  of 
the  intended  plan.  In  1752,  a  truck 
house  was  built  at  Fort  Richmond 
to  encourage  trade  with  the  Indians 
and  William  Lithgow  was  appointed 
' '  truck  master".  Two  years  later  he 
completed  the  construction  of  Fort 
Halifax  at  what  is  now  Winslow  and 
then  remained  there,  in  command, 
for  a  number  of  years.  Meanwhile 
the  French  fortress  at  Louisbourgh, 
in  Cape  Breton,  had  been  captured 
by  New  England  men  and  then,  in 
1748,  restored  to  the  French  by  the 
treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Between  1675  and  1760  there 
were  six  Indian  wars  during  which 
there  were  actually  thirty-five  years 
of  frequent  attack  and  constant 
border  warfare. 


8 


^be  Ikennebec  purcbaee  an&  tbe  Builbing 
of  tbe  foxte  in  1754 


N  the  year  of  1749  some  of  the 
heirs  of  the  original  proprietors 
of  the  Kennebec  Purchase  be- 
gan to  discover  an  interest  in  their 
title  to  the  lands  on  the  Kennebec 
which  were  being  settled  here  and 
there  by  squatters.  It  was  about 
this  time  that  Samuel  Goodwin  of 
Charlestown,  who  had  received  from 
his  father  a  twenty-fourth  part  of 
the  grant,  made  a  search  for  the 
original  Patent.  It  had  been  hidden 
by  an  '^ancient  woman  who  hoped 
to  make  some  advantage  to  herself 
by  the  possession"  and  after  a  long 
search  it  was  traced  and  at  last  de- 
livered to  the  new  proprietors  upon 
an  order  of  General  Court. 

A  meeting  of  some  of  the  heirs  of 
the  original  proprietors  was  held 
August  17,  1749  at  the  Royal  Ex- 
change Coffee  House  in  Boston,  and 
the  company  of  "The  Proprietors 
of  the  Kennebec  Purchase  from  the 
late  Colony  of  New  Plymouth"  was 
organized  and  at  later  meetings  it 
was  voted  to  survey  the  grant,  lay 
out  townships  on  either  side  of  the 
river  and  offer  inducements  to  new 
settlers.  Those  active  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  proprietors  were: 
Edward  Winslow,  Robert  Temple, 


Henry  Laughton,  Jacob  Wendall, 
Thomas  Valentine,  John  Bonner, 
Samuel  Goodwin,  John  Fox  and 
Joseph  Gooch.  Samuel  Goodwin 
served  as  clerk  and  was  active  in 
the  affairs  of  the  proprietors  spend- 
ing much  of  his  time  on  the  Ken- 
nebec. In  1752,  the  proprietors 
caused  to  be  erected  at  Frankfort, 
across  the  river  from  Fort  Richmond, 
a  "defensible  house"  which  after- 
wards was  named  Fort  Shirley  in 
compliment  to  Governor  Wilham 
Shirley.  It  consisted  of  two  block 
houses  about  twenty-four  feet 
square,  in  which  cannon  were 
placed,  and  a  shed  about  forty  feet 
long  with  a  leanto  roof.  The  whole 
was  surrounded  by  picket  work. 
Nine  years  later  the  easternmost  of 
these  block  houses  was  made  over 
into  a  jail  and  nearby  was  built 
"within  the  parade  ground  of  Fort 
Shirley",  a  three-story  hip-roofed 
house,  forty-five  feet  long  and  forty- 
four  feet  wide,  to  be  used  as  a  court 
house  and  tavern.  This  building  is 
yet  standing,  in  what  is  now  the 
town  of  Dresden,  and  is  in  excellent 
condition.  Its  walls  were  originally 
covered  with  pine  shingles  split  from 
the  log  and  shaved  by  hand,  and  the 


9 


GOVERNOR  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
FROM  A  PORTRAIT  PAINTED  IN  1750  BY  T.  HUDSON 


Z\)c  ikennebec  purcbaee 


original  plank  partitions,  lapped  at 
the  joints  and  never  painted,  may 
yet  be  seen.  The  old  court  house  is 
but  a  short  distance  from  the  bank 
of  the  Kennebec  in  the  midst  of  roll- 
ing farming  lands  and  nothing  now 
suggests  the  days  of  the  roving  In- 
dian. The  passing  trains  on  the  op- 
posite bank  of  the  river  alone  dis- 
turb the  quiet  of  the  peaceful  coun- 
try-side. 

On  March  28,  1754,  Governor 
Shirley  addressed  the  Council  and 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  old 
State  House  in  Boston  and  informed 
them  that  early  in  February  he  had 
received  a  letter  from  Captain  Lith- 
gow,  in  command  at  Fort  Richmond, 
stating  that  the  French  from  Can- 
ada in  considerable  number  had  set- 
tled along  the  Chaudiere  river,  near 
the  carrying  place  used  in  the  port- 
age to  the  Kennebec  river,  and  that 
a  fort  was  being  constructed  at  that 
point.  Moreover,  another  letter 
brought  news  that  the  Norridge- 
wock  and  other  Indians,  to  the  num- 
ber of  sixty  men,  had  appeared  at 
Fort  Richmond  and  shown  a 
''Haughty  Insolent  Behaviour,"  re- 
peatedly making  threats  that  ''as 
soon  as  the  Rivers  should  be  free 
from  ice,  they  would  Commit  Hostil- 
ities against  the  English."  The 
French  priest  who  lived  as  a  mission- 
ary among  the  Indians  on  the  Kenne- 
bec also  proposed  to  build  ''a  chapel 
and  a  Dwelling  House  for  him- 
self upon  that  River,  about  three 
or  four  Miles  above  Cushanac". 
The  Governor  stated  that  he  had 


commissioned  Capt.  John  North,  in 
command  at  Pemaquid,  to  proceed 
at  once  with  an  armed  guard  to  the 
carrying  place  to  ascertain  the  truth 
of  the  report.  He  also  urged  the 
' '  building  of  a  Strong  Fort  near  the 
head  of  the  River  Kennebeck,  above 
the  settlements  of  the  Norridgewalk 
Indians",  in  order  to  resist  encroach- 
ments and  hold  the  Indians  in  due 
dependence.  He  further  recom- 
mended that  repairs  be  made  at  Fort 
Richmond  which  needed  to  be 
"Shingled  and  Clapboarded." 

The  General  Court  at  once  de- 
clared its  readiness  "  to  do  every- 
thing that  could  be  expected"  and 
requested  the  Governor  to  organize 
an  expedition  of  five  hundred 
men,  afterwards  increased  to  eight 
hundred,  and  proceed  to  the  Ken- 
nebec to  destroy  the  encroaching 
settlements  and  also  to  construct  a 
fort  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  square  at  a  location  as  far  up  the 
river  above  Fort  Richmond  as  he 
should  judge  expedient  and  cause 
the  garrison,  artillery  and  stores  at 
the  latter  fort  to  be  removed  to  the 
new  fort.  This  action  was  taken  by 
the  General  Court  on  April  10th, 
1754.  Seven  days  previously  the 
Proprietors  of  the  Kennebec  Pur- 
chase had  held  a  meeting  and  un- 
animously adopted  the  following 
vote : — 

"VOTED :  That  in  case  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  the  province  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  shall  at  this 
their  present  session  come  to  a  De- 
termination to  build  a  Fort  at  Te- 


ll 


Ifort  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


conett  upon  Kennebec  River,  that 
then  this  proprietor  will  (if  desired 
by  the  Government)  at  the  time  of 
their  building  the  Fort  above  men- 
tioned, build  or  cause  to  be  built  at 
or  near  Cushnock,  as  the  Governor 
shall  order,  a  House  of  Hewen  Tim- 
ber not  less  than  ten  Inches  thick, 
one  hundred  feet  long  and  thirty- 
two  feet  wide  and  sixteen  feet  high 
for  the  Reception  of  the  said  prov- 
inces Stores,  with  Conveniences 
for  Lodging  of  the  Soldiers  who  may 
be  placed  there  by  the  Government, 
and  will  picquet  in  the  same  at 
Thirty  feet  Distance  from  every 
part  of  the  said  House,  &  build  a 
Block  House  of  Twenty  four  feet 
Square  at  two  of  the  opposite 
angles  agreable  to  a  plan  ready  to  be 
exhibited  when  it  shall  be  called  for; 
the  Government  protecting  the  Peo- 
ple while  employed  in  building  the 
said  House,  and  the  Committee  viz. 
Robert  Temple  Esq.,  Dr.  Sylvester 
Gardiner,  Mr.  James  Bowdoin,  Mr. 
WilUam  Bowdoin  and  Mr.  Benjamin 
Hallowell  are  hereby  desired  to  take 
care  that  the  fore-mentioned  House 
be  built  and^  picqueted  in,  &  the 
Block-houses  built'  agreable  to  this 
Vote  at  the  charge  of  this  pro- 
prietee." 

This  clearly  shows  that  a  well  de- 
fined plan,  probably  originating 
with  the  Proprietors,  was  already 
before  the  Governor  and  this  more 
fully  appeared  at  an  adjourned 
meeting  held  April  17th  when  the 
following  appears  entered  upon 
their  records,  viz.: — 


''Whereas  this  Proprietee  hath 
this  Day  received  a  Letter  from  his 
Excellency  Wilham  Shirley  Esq 
bearing  date  the  Sixteenth  of  this 
Instant  April  relating  to  our  build- 
ing a  Fort  upon  Kennebeck  River 
at  or  near  Cushnock  which  requires 
some  alteration  in  the  Vote  of  this 
propriety  passed  the  3d  of  this  In- 
stant April  relating  to  this  pro- 
priety's building  a  Fort  at  or  near 
Cushnock — 

' '  Therefore  Voted  unanimously 
that  the  said  Vote  passed  the  said  3d 
April  be  reconsidered. 

' '  Voted  unanimously  that  the 
forementioned  Letter  from  Gov. 
Shirley  be  recorded,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows— 

"Boston,  April  16,  1754. 
' '  Gentlemen, 

''The  Great  and  General 
Assembly  of  this  province  having  in 
their  present  session  by  their  Mes- 
sage to  me,  desired  that  I  would 
order  'a  New  Fort  to  be  Erected  of 
about  one  hundred  &  Twenty  feet 
Square,  as  far  up  the  River  Kenne- 
beck above  Richmond  Fort  as  I 
shall  think  fitt,  and  whereas  the 
placing  of  such  Fort  upon  this  oc- 
casion near  Taconett  Falls  would 
contribute  more  to  the  Defence  of 
the  said  River  &  protection  of  the 
Settlements  which  are  or  shall  here- 
after be  made  upon  it,  than  Erect- 
ing a  Fort  at  or  near  Cushenac;  but 
would  be  attended  with  this  incon- 
venience, that  the  Depth  of  Water  in 
said  River  will  not  admit  provisions 
and  stores  to  be  transported  in  a 


12 


XCbe  IRennebec  purcbaee 


sloop  higher  than  Cushenac;  so  that 
it  is  necessary  in  Case  a  Fort  be 
erected  at  Taconett  Falls,  that  a 
strong  defensible  magazine  should 
be  built  at  Cushenac  for  the  Recep- 
tion of  the  Governments  Stores  & 
provisions  in  their  Carriage  to  said 
Fort;  I  think  it  proper  to  acquaint 
you  that  in  case  you  shall  forthwith 
at  the  Expense  of  your  proprietee 
cause  to  be  built  at  or  near  Cushenac 
upon  the  said  river,  as  I  shall  order 
an  House  of  Hewen  Timber  not  less 
than  ten  inches  thick,  one  hundred 
feet  long  &  thirty  two  feet  wide,  and 
Sixteen  feet  high,  for  the  Reception 
of  the  province  stores  &  the  conven- 
iences for  Lodging  the  Soldiers  who 
may  be  placed  there  by  the  Govern- 
ment; and  will  picquet  in  the  same 
at  thirty  feet  Distance  from  every 
part  of  the  said  House;  and  build  a 
Block  house  of  Twenty  four  feet 
Square  at  two  of  the  opposite  An- 
gles agreable  to  a  plan  exhibited  by 
you  for  that  purpose,  and  furnish 
the  same  with  four  Cannon  carrying 
Ball  of  four  pounds,  I  will  cause  the 
Workmen  who  shall  be  employed  in 
building  the  said  House  to  be  pro- 
tected in  their  work  untill  the  same 
shall  be  finished;  and  will  give  or- 
ders as  soon  as  may  be  for  erecting  a 
New  Fort  at  the  Charge  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Dimensions  proposed 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  their  a- 
foresaid  Message  to  me,  above 
Taconett  Falls  upon  the  aforesaid 
River,  for  the  protection  of  the  Set- 
tlements made,  or  which  may  here- 
after be  made  upon  the  same,  &  in 


the  adjacent  Country;  and  use  my 
best  Endeavours  to  cause  the  same, 
to  be  finished  with  the  utmost  Ex- 
pedition. 

I  am  Gentlemen 

Your  Friend  and  Servant 
W.  Shirley. 
' '  To  the  proprietors  of  the 
Kennebeck  Purchase  from  the 
late  Colony  of  New  Plymouth" 

In  consequence  of  Governor  Shir- 
ley's letter,  the  Proprietors  adopted 
the  following  vote: — 

''Voted— Whereas  the  Great  & 
General  Assembly  of  the  Province  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  have  in  their 
present  session  by  their  Message  to 
his  Exceir  y William  Shirley  EsqGov- 
ernour  of  the  said  Province  desired 
him  to  order  a  New  Fort  to  be  Erect- 
ed of  about  one  hundred  &  Twenty 
feet  Square  as  far  up  the  River  Ken- 
nebeck, above  Richmond  Fort  as  he 
shall  think  fit;  &his  said  Excellency 
has  signified  to  us  the  proprietors, 
that  in  case  we  will  forthwith  at  our 
Expence  cause  to  be  built  at  or  near 
a  place  call'd  Cushanac  upon  said 
River;  as  he  shall  order,  an  House  of 
Hewen  Timber  not  less  than  ten 
inches  thick,  one  hundred  feet  long, 
thirty  two  feet  wide,  &  sixteen  feet 
high,  for  the  Reception  of  the 
said  Province's  stores,  with  conven- 
iences for  Lodging  the  Soldiers  who 
may  be  placed  there  by  the  Govern- 
ment and  will  picquet  in  the  same  at 
thirty  feet  distance  from  every  part 
of  the  said  House,  and  build  a 
Block-House  of  Twenty  four  feet 


13 


Jfort  Meatern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


square  at  two  of  the  opposite  an- 
gles, and  a  Gentry  Box  at  each  of  the 
other  two  angles  of  Twelve  feet 
square,  agreable  to  a  plan  exhibited 
by  us  to  his  said  Excellency  for  that 
purpose,  &  furnish  the  same  with 
four  Cannon  carrying  Ball  four 
pounds,  his  said  Excellency  haveing 
undertaken  to  protect  the  Workmen 
who  shaM  be  employed  in  building 
the  said  House  untill  the  same  shall 
be  finished;  He  the  said  Governor  will 
as  soon  as  may  be  give  orders  for 
Erecting  a  New  Fort  at  the  Gharge 
of  the  Government  of  the  Dimen- 
sions proposed  by  the  General 
Assembly  in  their  aforesaid  Message 
to  him,  above  Taconett  Falls  upon 
the  aforesaid  Biver,  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Settlements  made,  or 
which  may  hereafter  be  made  upon 
the  same,  and  in  the  adjacent  Coun- 
try, and  use  his  best  Endeavours  to 
cause  the  Fort  to  be  finished  with 
the  utmost  Expedition. 

"Now  it  is  unanimously  Voted  — 
That  in  Consideration  of  the  afore- 
said Assurance  given  to  this  pro- 
prietee  by  his  said  Excellency  we  the 
said  proprietee  will  cause  forthwith 
to  be  built  a  House  of  Hewen  Tim- 
ber not  less  than  ten  inches  thick, 
one  hundred  feet  long,  and  thirty 
two  feet  wide,  &  sixteen  feet  high, 
and  will  picquet  in  the  same  at 
thirty  feet  distance  from  every  part 
of  the  same  House  and  will  also 
build  a  Block-House  of  twenty  four 
feet  square  at  two  of  the  opposite 
angles,  and  a  Gentry  Box  of  twelve 
feet  square  at  each  of  the  other  two 


angles  agreable  to  the  beforemen- 
tioned  plan;  and  the  Committee 
vizt.  Thomas  Hancock  Esq,  Dr. 
Silvester  Gardiner,  Mr.  James  Bow- 
doin,  Mr.  William  Bowdoin,  Mr. 
Benjamin  Hallo  well  are  hereby  de- 
sired to  take  care  that  the  aforemen- 
tioned House  be  built  &  picquetted 
in  &  the  Block  houses  &  Gentry 
Boxes  be  built  agreable  to  this  vote, 
at  the  Gharge  of  this  proprietee. 

''Present:  Mr.  James  Bowdoin, 
Mr.  Balthezar  Bayard,  Mr.  WiUiam 
Taylor,  Mr.  Jona  Reed,  Mr.  Samuel 
Goodwin,  Mr.  Gershom  Flagg, 
Charles  Apthorp  Esq,  Thomas  Han- 
cock Esq,  Mr.  James  Pitts,  Maj. 
Nathaniel  Thwing,  Mr.  Benjamin 
Hallowell,  Dr.  Silvester  Gardiner, 
William  Bowdoin  Moderator,  David 
Jeffries  prop:  Clerk." 

Immediately  after  the  action  of 
the  General  Court  on  April  10th,  the 
Governor  directed  Capt.  Joseph 
Bane  of  York  to  proceed  to  the 
Kennebec  with  instructions  to  go  to 
the  carrying  place  at  the  Chaudiere 
river,  with  Bartholomew,  the  Indian 
interpreter  and  one  other  man,  and 
ascertain  the  truth  of  the  report  as 
to  the  new  French  fort.  He  was  also 
instructed  to  ''take  special  Notice 
of  the  Land  lying  on  Kennebeck 
River  between  Cooshnuck  &  Ta- 
conick  falls  on  both  sides  of  the 
River  &  what  the  Soil  is  Sz  what 
Growth  of  Timber  there  is  upon  it 
particularly  near  Taconit  falls;  and 
you  must  also  observe  the  falls  of  the 
River 'between  those  Places  &  how 
far  it  is  practicable  &  in  what  manner 


ZTbe  ikennebec  purcbaae 


as  well  as  in  what  Season  of  the  year 
you  may  judge  best  to  convey  Provi- 
sions &  other  Goods  from  Coosh- 
nuck  to  Taconick." 

On  the  25th  of  April,  at  the  re- 
questof  the  Proprietors  of  the  Ken- 
nebec Purchase,  the  Governor  or- 
dered Capt.  John  North  to  send  ''a 
sofficient  number  of  Men  well  armed 
&  appointed  in  Whale  Boats  up  the 
Kenn'ebeck  River  under  the  Com- 
mand &  Direction  of  Capt.  Samuel 
Goodwin,  as  far  as  Taconeck  Falls, 
to  view  the  Land  thereabouts,  & 
particularly  to  observe  what  Timber 
may  be  there  suitable  for  the  Build- 
ing a  Fort." 

Governor  Shirley  with  members 
of  his  Council  and  the  forces  raised 
for  the  eastern  expedition  under 
command  of  Col.  John  Winslow,  em- 
barked from  Boston  on  June  21st, 
for  Falmouth,  now  Portland,  where 
he  held  a  conferencewith  Penobscot 
and  Norr  dgewock  Indians  and  in- 
formed them  of  his  intention  to 
build  a  fort  at  Taconic.  They  at 
first  objected  but  at  length  consent- 
ed and  signed  a  treaty.  Three  days 
later,  on  July  6th,  the  Governor  en- 
tered into  an  agreement  with  Capt. 
Isaac  Ilsley  of  Falmouth,  carpenter, 
to  proceed  at  once  with  twelve  other 
carpenters,  '  Vhom  he  hath  engaged 
for  that  purpose,  to  Kennebec  River 
in  a  schooner  ...  to  be  employed 
in  helping  to  build  a  fort,  to  be  erect- 
ed at  or  near  Taconnet  Falls." 
Ilsley's  bill  for  eighty-two  days 
labor  each  for  himself  and  twelve 
men  amounted  to  £1660.10.0. 


The  troops  and  workmen  at  once 
sailed  for  the  Kennebec  and  on 
August  30th  were  followed  by  the 
Governor  and  his  staff  in  the 
''Castle  pinnace",  a  small  vessel 
from  Castle  William  in  Boston  har- 
bor. The  story  of  what  occurred 
during  the  exploring  expedition  may 
be  found  in  the  Boston  Gazette  for 
Sept.  8,  1754:— 

''On  Saturday  last,  John  Shirley, 
Esq.,  son  of  His  Excellency,  our 
Governor,  arrived  here  from  Fal- 
mouth in  Casco  Bay,  by  whom  we 
have  the  following  account,  viz., 

^'That  the  forces  under  General 
Winslow  set  out  from  Teconnett 
with  something  more  than  five  hun- 
dred men  and  fifteen  battoes,  on  the 
eighth  of  August  past,  but  after  pro- 
ceeding two  days  up  the  river,  the 
General  was  taken  so  ill  that  he  was 
obliged  to  return,  leaving  the  com- 
mand, with  the  instructions  to  him, 
with  Col.  Preble,  who,  on  the  10th, 
at  nine  in  the  morning,  preceeded 
with  thirteen  battoes,  one-half  the 
men  on  one  side,  and  the  other  half 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  on 
Tuesday  the  thirteenth,  arrived  at 
Norridgewalk,  which  is  thirty-one 
miles  above  Teconnet,  beautifully 
situated,  near  400  acres  of  clear  land 
on  which  the  grass  is  generally  five 
or  six  feet  high.  Here  they  found  six 
Indian  men,  three  squaws  and  several 
children,  who  appeared  at  first  sur- 
prised to  see  such  a  number  of  men 
and  ba+toes  so  far  advanced  into 
their  country,  but  after  they  were 
told  by  Col.  Preble  that  they  had 


15 


Ifort  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


nothing  to  fear  from  him,  that  none 
of  his  men  should  hurt  the  least 
thing  they  had,  nor  go  into  their 
houses,  and  that  Governor  Shirley 
had  ordered  they  should  be  treated 
with  civility  and  kindness,  they  ap- 
peared well  satisfied  and  were  kind 
and  friendly;  and  Passequeant,  one 
of  their  chiefs,  presented  him  with 
two  fine  salmon,  and  some  squashes 
of  their  own  produce,  and  were  all 
very  free  in  drinking  King  George's 
and  Governor  Shirley's  health,  and 
told  him  he  was  welcome  there. 
They  camped  that  night  half  a  mile 
above  the  town,  and  the  next  day, 
leaving  the  battoes  there  with  a  de- 
tachment sufficient  to  guard  them, 
they  proceeded  on  their  march  to 
the  great  carrying  place  between 
Kennebec  and  the  river  Chaudiere, 
whore  the  French  were  said  to  be 
building  a  fort,  and  arrived  there  on 
the  eighteenth,  which  is  thirty- 
eight  miles  and  three-quarters  above 
Norridgewalk,  a  few  miles  below 
which  they  met  three  birch  canoes 
with  eight  Indians  in  them,  who  had 
lately  come  over  the  carrying  place, 
and  as  they  supposed  from  Canada. 
The  Indians  were  much  surprised 
on  discovering  the  party,  and  en- 
deavoured to  return  up  the  river  with 
their  canoes,  but  the  rapidity  of  the 
stream  prevented  their  speedy  flight 
on  which  they  run  the  canoes  on 
shore,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  catched  one  of  them  up  and 
ran  off  into  the  woods,  leaving  the 
other  two  on  the  spot,  and  made 
their  escape  into  the  carrying  place, 


and  so  returned  to  Canada,  to  carry 
intelhgence,  as  Col.  Preble  supposed 
for  he  tracked  them  in  his  march  a- 
cross  the  said  carrying  place;  the 
course  of  which  from  the  head  of  the 
Kennebec  River  is  due  west,  and  the 
distance  three  miles,  three-quarters 
and  twenty-two  rods,  to  a  pond  a- 
bout  two  miles  long  and  one  and  a 
half  miles  broad ;  beyond  that  is  an- 
other carrying  place  of  about  one 
mile,  which  leads  to  another  pond, 
that  runs  into  the  Chaudiere. 

''They  returned  from  the  first 
mentioned  pond  the  same  day,  and 
came  to  Norridgewalk  the  twenty- 
first  of  August,  early  in  the  day, 
where  they  found  Capt.  Wright  and 
the  detachment  under  his  command 
all  well,  and  thirty-five  Indians,  old 
and  young,  who,  upon  the  know- 
ledge of  Colonel  Preble's  return, 
dressed  themselves  up  in  their  way 
very  fine,  by  putting  on  clean  shirts 
and  painting  and  decorating  them- 
selves with  wampum.  They  saluted 
him  with  a  number  of  guns  and 
three  cheers,  and  then  a  number  of 
them  waited  on  him  at  the  camp, 
welcomed  him  back,  and  seemed  to 
express  a  good  deal  of  satisfaction 
at  his  return. 

''After  drinking  King  George's 
and  Governor  Shirley's  health,  they 
invited  him  to  their  houses,  and  ten 
or  twelve  of  their  chiefs  desired  a 
short  conference  with  him;  and 
after  having  cleared  the  house  of 
young  men,  who  diverted  them- 
selves, meanwhile,  playing  ball,  etc., 
told  him  that  he  had  passed  and  re- 


16 


Z\)c  Ikennebec  purcbaee 


passed  through  their  country,  they 
were  glad  to  see  him  back,  and  he 
was  heartily  welcome;  and  they  had 
told  him,  before  he  went,  there  was 
no  French  settlement  at  the  carry- 
ing place,  and  since  he  had  been 
there  and  found  it  so,  hoped  he 
would  now  look  upon  them  as  true 
men;  and  that  we  were  now  all  one 
brothers;  and  if  their  young  men 
should  get  in  hquor  and  affront  any 
of  the  EngHsh,  hoped  we  should 
take  no  notice  of  it;  that  they  were 
determined  to  live  in  friendship 
with  us;  and  if  the  Canada  Indians 
had  any  design  to  do  any  mischief  on 
our  frontiers,  they  would  certainly 
let  us  know  it;  and  if  any  disputes 
arose  betwixt  the  French  and  us, 
they  were  determined  for  the  future 
to  sit  still  and  smoke  their  pipes. 

''The  Colonel  told  them  the  re- 
solution they  had  taken  would  be 
very  pleasing  to  Governor  Shirley, 
and  as  long  as  they  kept  their  faith 
with  us  they  might  depend  on  being 
treated  as  friends  and  brethren,  and 
be  supplied  with  all  the  necessaries 
at  Teconnet,  which  would  be  much 
more  convenient  than  at  Richmond; 
all  of  which  they  told  they  liked  very 
well;  and  were  sorry  they  had  no 
liquor  to  treat  them  with,  but  de- 
sired he  would  see  their  young  men 
dance  and  they  ours,  which  they  said 
was  a  token  of  friendship,  and  was 
accordingly  performed. 

''Next  morning,  on  the  Colonel's 
taking  his  leave  of  them,  they  wished 
him  safe  to  Teconnet,  and  saluted 
him  with  thirty  or  forty  small  arms, 


as  fast  as  they  could  load  and  dis- 
charge. 

"The  army  arrived  at  Teconnet, 
on  Friday,  the  twenty-third  of 
August,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, having  been  sixteen  days  on 
the  march.  As  to  the  course  of  the 
river  into  the  country,  it  must  be  de- 
ferred until  a  plan  of  the  same, 
which  has  been  taken  by  a  skillful 
surveyor,  shall  appear.  The  soil,  for 
the  most  part,  is  extreemly  good  and 
appears  to  be  fertile.  There  are  many 
beautiful  islands  in  the  river,  some 
of  which  contain  near  a  thousand 
acres  of  intervale;  but  the  land  is 
not  plentifully  supplied  with  timber. 

' '  The  navigation  to  Norridgewalk 
is  considerably  difficult  by  reason  of 
the  rapidity  of  the  stream  and  rip- 
pling falls,  but  tis'  likely  will  be 
much  easier  when  the  water  is  high- 
er. There  is  but  one  fall  above  the 
Teconnet  Falls  that  is  necessary  to 
carry  the  battoes  around  before  we 
come  to  Norridgewalk,  betwixt 
which,  and  the  carrying  ''place  the 
navigation  is  vastly  better  than 
below,  there  being  only  two  falls  to 
carry  round,  one  of  which  notwith- 
standing it  is  a  mile  in  length,  there 
is  a  plain  beaten  path;  the  other  is 
not  above  thirty  or  forty  rods." 

Governor  Shirley  returned  to  Bos- 
ton on  September  9th  and  his  own 
story  of  what  had  taken  place  since 
he  left  Boston  on  June  21st  is  found 
in  his  speech  to  the  Council  and 
House  of  Representatives  delivered 
October  18th,  1754,  a  portion  of 
which  follows 


17 


226 


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Page  from  ^i)t  (gentleman's  iWagajine,  London,  1755 


XL\)c  Ikennebec  purcbaee 


''In  compliance  with  the  request 
of  the  late  Assembly  contain'd 
in  the  Message  of  both  Houses  to  me 
on  the  9th  of  April  last  and  your  own 
vote  passed  in  the  May  session  fol- 
lowing, I  caus'd  Eight  hundred  men 
to  be  rais'd  for  the  Services  therein 
mention'd,  and  soon  after  the  rising 
of  this  Court,  imbark'd,  in  company 
with  them,  for  Falmouth  in  Casco 
Bay,  where  I  had  separate  Inter- 
views and  Conferences  with  the  Nor- 
ridgewalk  &  Penobscott  Indians ; 
After  the  former  of  these  was  fin- 
ished I  caus'd  the  forces  and  work- 
men to  proceed  to  the  River  Ken- 
nebeck  for  building  a  Fort  there  a- 
bove  that  at  Richmond,  with  orders 
for  a  Detachment  of  five  hundred  of 
the  former  to  march  to  the  Head  of 
that  River,  and  the  great  Carrying- 
place  between  that  and  the  River 
Chaudiere,  and  to  remove  any 
French  Settlements  which  might  be 
found  and  took,  as  much  as  was  pos- 
sible, the  Execution  of  these  several 
matters  under  my  immediate  care 
and  Direction,  according  to  the  par- 
ticular Desire  of  the  Assemble  ex- 
press'd  in  the  before  mentioned  Mes- 
sage to  me  .  .  .  The  place,  which  I 
pitched  upon  for  erecting  the  new 
Fort  and  for  my  better  Information 
caus'd  to  be  surveyed,  together  with 
the  Navigation  of  the  River  between 
that  &  Richmond,  as  also  the  lands 
adjacent,  and  to  have  a  plan  taken 
of  it,  before  I  left  Boston,  is  in  a 
Forkor  Point  of  Land  form'd  by  the 
Meeting  of  the  Rivers  Kennebeck 
&  Sebastoocook,  the  latter  of  which 


empties  itself  into  the  former  at  the 
distance  of  about  three  quarters  of 
a  Mile  from  the  falls  at  Taconnett. 

''This  spot,  which  is  thirty- 
seven  Miles  higher  up  the  River 
Kennebeck  than  the  old  Fort  at 
Richmond,  &  the  utmost  extent  to 
which  it  was  advisable  or  safe  to 
carry  a  fort  up  that  River  at  first,  is 
computed  to  be  not  quite  fifty  miles 
distant  from  Penobscott,  and,  as 
measured  by  the  Chain  &  Compass, 
is  not  more  than  thirty-one  from 
Norridgewalk  by  Water,  and  twen- 
ty-two by  land,  and  is  on  many  ac- 
counts the  most  advantageous  one 
for  the  situation  of  a  Fort,  between 
that  &  Richmond. 

"The  only  known  Communication, 
which  the  Penobscotts  have  with 
the  River  Kennebeck  &  Norridge- 
walk Indians  inhabiting  it,  is  thro 
the  River  Sebastoocook,  by  means 
of  a  Carrying-Place  which  they 
cross  within  ten  rods  Distance  from 
Taconnett  Falls;  and  their  most 
Commodious  Passage  from  Penob- 
scott to  Quebec  lies  thro  Kennebeck 
to  the  River  Chaudiere;  so  that  a 
Fort  situated  here  not  only  cuts  off 
the  communication  of  the  Penob- 
scotts with  the  Norridg walks,  but 
with  Quebec  hkewise,  through  their 
easiest  Route  to  it;  and,  as  it  stands 
at  a  convenient  distance  for  making 
a  sudden  &  easy  descent  upon  their 
Headquarters,  it  is  as  strong  a  Curb 
upon  their  Tribe,  as  it  is  upon  that 
of  the  Norridgwalk. 

' '  But  as  the  River  Kennebeck  is 
not  Navigable  for  Sloops  beyond 


19 


fort  Meatern  on  tbe  Ikennebcc 


Cushenock,  and  the  Navigation  be- 
tween that  and  Taconnett,  being 
eighteen  miles,  is  for  much  the 
greatest  part  of  it  so  incumbered 
with  Shoals  &  Rocks  and  strong 
Currents  occasioned  by  frequent 
falls  that  the  Transportation  of 
Bulkey  &  Heavy  Stores  is  im- 
practicable ;  unless  in  the  time  of  the 
Freshetts ;  not  only  the  carrying  up  a 
Fort  as  high  as  Taconnett,  but  the 
supporting  it  when  built,  appeared 
to  be  attended  with  insuperable 
Difficulties,  unless  a  large  De- 
fensible Store-house  should  be 
built  at  Cushenoc  to  lodge  the  Pro- 
vince Stores  in  their  Passage  to  Ta- 
connett. 

''To  remedy  this,  the  proprietors 
of  some  lands  upon  Kennebeck 
River,  commonly  called  the  Ply- 
mouth Company,  made  me  an  offer, 
that  if  I  would  cause  the  intended 
Fort  to  be  erected  at  Taconnett, 
they  would  at  their  expense  built  at 
or  near  Cushenoc,  as  I  should  order, 
a  House  of  Hewen  Timber  not  less 
than  ten  Inches  thick,  one  hundred 
feet  long,  thirty-two  wide,  sixteen 
high,  for  the  reception  of  the  Pro- 
vince's Stores,  with  Conveniences 
for  Lodging  of  the  Soldiers  who  may 
be  placed  there  by  the  Government  ; 
and  would  picket  it  in  at  thirty 
Feet  distance  from  every  part  of  the 
House,  and  build  a  Block  house  of 
24  feet  Square  at  two  of  the  op- 
posite Angles  to  be  mounted  with 
four  Cannon,  agreeable  to  a  Plan 
ready  to  be  exhibited  when  it  should 
be  called  for;  the  Government  to 


protect  the  people  while  employed 
in  building  the  said  House:  which 
Vote  &  Plan  shall  be  communicated 
to  you. 

''This  offer  I  readity  accepted  for 
the  Province;  and  that  Company 
hath  built  a  fortifyed  Store  house  at 
Cushenoc  according  to  the  said  Plan, 
which  will  not  only  serve  to  lodge 
the  public  Stores  in,  but  add  to  the 
Defence  and  Protection  of  the 
River,  &  greatly  incourage  Settle- 
ments upon  it:  and  to  make  it  still 
more  beneficial,  I  have  caus'd  a 
Road  of  Communication  between 
Cushenoc  and  Tacconnett  to  be 
clear'd  for  Wheel  Carriages,  where- 
by the  Transportation  of  Stores  by 
Land  from  Fort  Western  at  the 
former  to  Fort  Halifax  at  the  latter, 
in  the  space  of  one  day,  will  be  ren- 
der'd  practicable,  and  the  want  of  a 
convenient  carriage  by  water  sup- 
ply'd." 

The  Governor  then  discribed  the 
location  and  construction  of  Fort 
Halifax  and  gave  some  account  of 
the  expedition  up  the  Kennebec  to 
the  carrying  place  where  "no  signs 
of  any  French  Settlement  were 
found."  He  stated  that  the  im- 
pressed men  had  all  been  discharged 
except  one  hundred  to  garrison 
Fort  Halifax  and  twenty  to  garrison 
Fort  Western. 

The  alarming  reports  of  intended 
Indian  attack  and  of  French  settle- 
ment at  the  great  carrying  place 
having  been  found  to  be  false,  it  has 
been  suggested  that  these  reports 
may  have  originated  in  the  Kenne- 


20 


ZLbe  ikennebec  purcbaec 


bee  Company  itself  in  the  hope  of  in- 
ducing the  Government  to  construct 
a  strong  fort  north  of  their  lands  as  a 
protection  for  settlers.  The  exact 
facts  must  have  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  Governor  Shirley  at  an 
early  date  and  yet  he  allowed  the 
General  Court  to  continue  in  its 
support  of  the  original  plan  for  the 
building  of  a  fort.  It  is  even  possible 
that  he  had  a  personal  interest  in 
furthering  the  welfare  of  the  Com- 
pany for  on  Dec.  11,  1754,  before 
Fort  Halifax  was  completed,  eight 
shares  in  the  Company's  lands  and 
securities  were  transferred  to  Gov- 
ernor Shirley  by  Doctor  Sylvester 
Gardiner,  a  proprietor  who  had  re- 
ceived the  same  day  from  the  Com- 
pany, a  grant  of  3200  acres  of  land 
located  just  below  the  Fort,  from 
which  the  usual  settling  conditions 
requiring  the  building  of  a  house 
eighteen  by  twenty  feet  in  size  and 
the  clearing  of  five  acres  of  land,  all 
within  three  years  time,  were  short- 
ly after  remitted  '  'for  great  services 
done  this  proprietee."  The  Gov- 
ernor was  a  practicing  lawyer  in 
Boston  where  most  of  the  pro- 
prietors lived  and  the  question  has 
been  asked  if  these  eight  shares  in 
the  stock  of  the  Company  may  riot 
have  been  conveyed  to  the  Governor 
as  an  attorney's  fee?  Moreover, 
Robert  Temple,  a  large  proprietor 
in  the  Company  was  a  son-in-law  of 
Governor  Shirley.  Thomas  Hutch- 
inson writing  only  twenty  years 
later  in  his  History  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  remarks : — ' '  This  expedition 


which  was  very  expensive;  and 
though  it  was,  in  every  part  of  it, 
the  project  of  the  Governor,  yet,  as 
it  had  the  appearance  of  origina- 
ting in  the  Assembly,  there  was  no 
room  for  complaint." 

It  will  be  noted  in  the  Governor's 
message  to  the  General  Court  on 
Oct.  18th,  that  he  states  the  Ken- 
nebec Company  had  already  built 
its  storehouse  at  Cushnoc.  It  was 
garrisoned  and  was  an  important 
post  and  very  necessary  to  the  main- 
tenance of  the  fort  eighteen  miles 
above  it.  All  supplies  must  be  land- 
ed at  Cushnoc  and  communication 
with  Boston  was  slow  and  irregular 
especially  during  the  winter  season. 
The  deep  snows  frequently  made  it 
impossible  to  transfer  supplies  to 
Fort  Halifax  and  at  times  the  troops 
stationed  there  suffered  consider- 
able hardship.  A  letter  to  the  Gov- 
ernor from  Capt.  Lithgow,  dated 
Jan.  9,  1755,  and  now  preserved  in 
the  State  Archives  at  Boston,  gives 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  conditions  pre- 
vailing at  the  Fort  at  that  time. 
' '  May  it  pleas  your  Excellency 
''The  Souldery  of  Fort  Halli- 
fax  Is  In  a  most  Deplorable  Condi- 
tion for  want  of  Shoes  Stockings 
Beding  and  Bodyely  Cloathing  (fee- 
as  I  have  Signified  In  my  Letter  of 
ye  20th  Deer  and  it  is  with  the 
greatest  Conserne  that  I  am  obliged 
farther  to  Acquainte  Your  Ex- 
cellency that  we  have  scarce  30  men 
In  this  Fort  that  are  Capable  of 
Cutting  or  Hailing  wood  for  the  sup- 
ply of  this  Fort  and  It  is  with  grate 


21 


jfort  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


Dificulty  thay  Can  Supply  them 
Selves  with  Wood  from  Day  to  Day 
the  Snow  is  so  Deep,  it  is  3  foot  at 
this  Place,  and  haveing  no  Snow 
Shoas  and  our  being  in  a  manner 
naked  it  Is  out  of  our  power  ware  we 
In  Health  to  Keep  Scouts  aBroad  or 
even  Send  a  Guarde  with  those  men 
that  Halls  Wood  neither  Can  thay 
Carry  their  arms  with  them  being 
hard  put  to  it  to  wallow  through  the 
Snow  with  their  Sled  Load  of  Wood, 
and  its  hard  Service  for  those  men  to 
Suply  them  Selves  and  ye  Invol- 
leeds  with  firing  which  Takes  up 
two  intire  Barracks,  we  have  now 
but  4  Weeks  allowance  of  Bread  In 
this  Fort,  one  barrel  of  Rum  and  one 
Do  of  molasses  and  god  knows  how 
or  when  we  shall  be  able  to  gitt  any 
Suplyes  from  Fort  Westeren  on 
account  of  ye  Snow  is  so  Deep. 
I  Left  Fort  Halifax  ye  4th  In- 
stent  to  See  if  ye  River  was 
passable  on  ye  Ice  with  one 
Souldier  for  Company,  and  also 
to  try  if  I  Could  Collect  Som  Leath- 
er or  Shoas  for  a  present  Relife,  till 
more  shall  be  Sent,  which  I  have  got, 
and  have  Imploy'd  2  shoamakers  to 
work  it  up,  we  Came  all  the  way  on 
the  Ice  which  we  found  to  be  very 
Week  between  Fort  Hallifax  and 
Fort  Western  on  account  as  I  Su- 
pose  of  ye  grate  Body  of  Snow 
which  Lyes  on  it  which  hinders  its 
freesing,  the  Ice  there  is  Sunk  with 
Snow  &  Water  about  2  feet  &  halfe 
Deep,  ye  under  Ice  was  so  weak 
that  we  Broak  throw  Sundery 
Times,  and  it  was  with  grate  Difi- 


culty &  hazard  of  our  Lives  that  we 
got  to  Fort  Western,  whare  we  was 
Detained  by  a  Storm  2  Days,  ye  8th 
Instant  we  arived  at  Richmond 
Fort,  where  I  thought  it  my  Duty 
to  Wright  Your  Excellency  this 
Letter, — 

' '  I  think  it  was  a  very  bad  affair 
that  ye  Barricks  had  not  been  left 
In  Better  order,  and  that  thare  had 
had  not  been  more  Suplyes  laid  up 
in  this  Fort  whilst  the  River  was 
open,  if  it  was  bad  Carrying  ye 
stores  then,  I  aver  its  ten  Times 
worse  now,  and  I  feer  will  Contineue 
So  this  Winter,  for  I  Doubt  ye  River 
above  Fort  Western  will  be  hard  to 
freeze,  on  account  of  ye  Strong  Cur- 
rent that  Runs  there,  and  as  to  ye 
Cutt  Rodes  being  of  Service,  it 
would  now  take  50  men,  and  Ten 
yoack  of  oxen  2  Days  to  Brack  it, 
and  after  it  was  broaken  it  would 
Choack  up  with  ye  first  wind  that 
Blew.  Som  of  the  gullys  now  are 
Drifted  10  or  15  foot  Deep  with 
Snow,  that  I  think  will  never  be  of 
much  Service  to  us  In  transpoarting 
our  provisions,  till  Such  Times  as  ye 
Country  Settles  and  more  teemes 
frequents  that  Road  then  what  may 
be  allowed  for  Fort  Hallifax,  but 
these  dull  Complaintes  avales  us  but 
Little  to  extracate  us  out  of  our 
present  Difficulties  it  Remains  now 
to  think  of  ye  best  way  by  which 
that  garrison  can  be  relived,  and  I 
would  with  Submission  offer  your 
Excellency  my  Humble  oppinion 
upon  ye  matter,  which  Is  that  your 
Excellency  give  the  Indipendent 


22 


Zhc  Ikennebec  purcbaae 


Companys  or  other  forces  that  may 
be  raised  as  Succers  for  the  Defence 
of  this  River,  orders  to  provide  or 
Impress  Horces  or  other  Cattle  with 
provinder,  and  Slayes  or  Chaires, 
and  those  Cattle  to  be  employ'd  in 
Hailing  the  Stores  and  other 
Suplyes  that  may  soon  be  Landed 
In  this  River  (for  the  Suply  of  Fort 
Hallifax)  up  to  Fort  Western,  far- 
ther I  belive  Cattle  will  be  of  no 
Service,  on  account  of  ye  Rivers 
being  Daingerous  for  Cattle  to 
Travel  on,  as  I  have  already  ob- 
served, and  then  a  proper  Number 
of  Men  with  Snow  Shoes  may  be 
employed  In  carrying  up  provisions 
from  Western  to  Fort  Hallifax,  and 
after  ye  Road  is  beten  well,  and  the 
InvoUeeds  that  may  be  able  to 
Travel  after  being  shod  &c  for  them 
to  march  Down  ye  River  and  tarry 
with  ye  provisions  which  will  Save 
a  grate  Deel  of  Featigue  of  Carrying 
of  ye  provisions  to  them,  and  that 
thare  be  good  men  placed  at  Fort 
Hallifax.  In  their  Rooms  I  should 
ere  now  have  Dissmised  Som  worth- 
less Fellows  which  Does  Uttle  other 
Duty  then  Eates  their  allowance, 
Could  thay  have  traveled  Home  for 
thay  will  never  Do  any  Service  here 
or  any  whers  else,  this  garrison,  I 
think  has  its  full  Share  of  Such  Cre- 
tures  that  Resembles  men  In  noth- 
ing but  ye  Humain  Shape,  but  Say 
Som,  Such  will  Do  for  Forts  where 
thay  have  nothing  to  Do  but  Eate  & 
Sleep,  as  it  seems  to  be  ye  opinion  of 
those  that  Hiers  or  Empresses  them, 
or  at  least  they  Croud  Such  Into  ye 


Service  to  be  maintened  at  ye  pub- 
lick  Expence  to  Save  themselves  the 
Charge  Such  men  would  be  to  ye 
Towns  they  are  Sent  from,  now  ye 
Consiquence  of  this  management 
will  be  that  this  winter  it  will  re- 
quier  one  hundred  or  2  good  men 
Constently  carrying  provisions  from 
Fort  Western  to  Fort  HalHfax  for 
them  selves  and  those  that  Canot 
Do  their  own  Duty,  as  I  have  just 
mentioned,  which  very  much  Dis- 
couriges  good  men,  and  Cloges  ye 
Service  which  In  my  Humble 
opinion  Requires  ye  governments 
perticular  Notice,  we  very  much 
want  a  Sortment  of  Suitable  Hearbs 
for  the  Sick,  our  Doctor  has  left  us 
and  we  have  no  one  here  that  knows 
ye  use  of  our  meadisons,  a  grate 
many  of  our  men  has  ben  sick  and 
Contineues  So,  but  non  of  them  has 
parfectly  Recovreed  to  their  former 
healths,  nor  will  not  I  belive  this 
Winter,  the  men  in  General  Seems 
to  be  very  Low  In  Spirets  which  I 
Impute  to  their  wadeing  So  much 
In  the  Watter  In  ye  Sumer  and 
Fall  which  I  believe  has  very  much 
hurt  ye  Circulation  of  their  Blood 
and  filled  it  full  of  gross  Humers  and 
what  has  aded  to  their  misfortune  is 
their  being  much  streightened  for 
want  of  Room,  and  Bad  Lodgings. 

' '  In  ye  Spring  of  ye  year  must  be 
sent  to  Fort  Western  10  Lodes  of 
English  Hay,  for  the  Suply  of  ye  ox- 
en that  must  hall  ye  Timber  for  ye 

bulding  at  Fort  Hallifax,  other 

wise  we  Can  not  go  on  with  ye  Buld- 
ings  there,  I  have  Imployed  3  Car- 


23 


fort  Meetern  on  tbe  ikennebec 


pinters  this  Winter  to  prepair  Tim- 
ber for  the  above  Buldings,  I  have 
agreed  with  two  of  them  for  £30  per 
month  and  one  for  £20  old  Ten'r 
till  ye  Last  of  March,  and  after  that 
30/  per  Day  till  ye  last  of  May. 

''I  would  again  Recomend  to 
your  Excellency  ye  8  flat  Bottomed 
Botes  Carrying  2  Tuns  Each,  which 
I  mentioned  In  my  Last  Letter  that 
they  be  sent  to  Fort  Western  as 
early  as  possible  ye  next  Spring,  to 
Carry  up  our  Stores  to  Fort  Hal- 
hfax,  which  I  am  Satisfied  must  be 
ye  way  by  which  we  can  be  Sup- 
ply'd  at  this  Fort,  I  add  no  farther 
then  we  will  Do  ye  best  we  can  to 
Subsist  till  we  have  more  Help. 

' '  with  Submission  I  beg  Leave  to 
Subscribe  my  Selfe — 

''Your  Excellencys  most  dutie- 
full  obedient  Serv't 

WiLLM  LiTHGOW 

"Richmond  Fort  Jan'r  ye  9th 
1755" 

Nine  days  later  the  Governor  re- 
ceived this  letter  and  immediately 
replied  that  stores  would  be  dis- 
patched at  once.  He  also  wrote 
that  ten  days  before,  supphes  of 
food  and  clothing  had  been  sent  and 
that  horses,  cattle  and  carriages  and 
a  guard  of  men  were  to  be  impressed 
to  convey  the  stores  to  Fort  West- 
ern. He  also  had  given  orders  that 
flat  bottomed  boats  be  built  imme- 
diately for  use  at  the  Fort,  each  to  be 
armed  with  four  swivel  guns.  Some 
of  these  flat  bottomed  boats,  of  two 
tons  displacement,  were  built  at 


Brunswick  by  a  Mr.  Wood  and  two 
were  sent  down  from  Boston  which 
could  not  be  used  and  were  with- 
drawn. Those  built  at  Brunswick 
''go  as  well  as  whale  boats,  and 
when  loaded  draw  eighteen  inches  of 
water,  and  will  carry  twenty-five 
barrels  of  pork  and  bread."  In 
June,  1755,  three  of  these  flat  boats 
were  in  commision  at  Fort  Western 
supplimented  by  whale  boats 
brought  from  Falmouth,  and  ca- 
noes. The  difficulty  of  transport- 
ing supplies  added  greatly  to  the 
cost  of  maintaining  the  forts  and  a 
popular  estimate  of  the  time  was 
that  "every  biscuit  sent  to  Fort 
Halifax  cost  the  Province  a  pista- 
reen," — a  Spanish  silver  coin  of 
the  value  of  about  ten  English 
pence. 

Fort  Halifax  never  was  completed. 
The  original  design  was  changed  and 
finally  abandoned.  In  1760,  Mon- 
tresor,  an  English  officer  of  the  En- 
gineers, discribed  it  as  "square — 
its  defence  a  bad  palisade  flanked 
by  two  block  houses,  in  which  there 
are  some  guns  mounted  ...  it  is  gar- 
risoned by  a  company  of  New  Eng- 
enders and  supplied  from  the  set- 
tlements below.  The  tide  brings 
sloops  to  Fort  Western,  six  leagues 
below  Fort  Halifax." 

Captain  Lithgow  remained  in 
command  at  the  Fort  and  later  was 
stationed  there  in  1765  as  "truck 
master"  in  charge  of  the  trade  with 
the  Indians.  After  the  fort  was 
dismantled  the  officers  quarters  was 
used  as  a  tavern.    There  was  origin- 


24 


Z\)c  ikennebec  purcbaae 


ally  a  sentry  walk"  on  the  ridge 
pole  of  the  large  house.  The  win- 
dows were  supplied  with  glass  of 
small  size  and  the  barracks  had  no 
glass  windows.  All  that  now  re- 
ma  ns  of  this  Fort  is  one  of  the 
block  houses  standing  on  the  bank 
of  the  river  and  only  a  few  yards 
from  the  tracks  of  the  Maine  Cen- 
tral railroad,  its  present  owner. 

Note:  ''We  are  inform'd,  His 
Excellency  at  his  late  Visit  to  Tacon- 
net  and  Cushnoc,  nam'd  the  Fort 
lately  erected  at  the  former  of  those 
Places,  Fort  HALIFAX,  and  that  of 
the  latter.  Fort  WESTERN;  and 
that  the  Ceremony  of  naming  the 
former  was  perform'd  by  his  Ex- 
cellency's laying  the  Corner-Stone, 
the  Garrison  being  drawn  up  under 
arms;  after  which  he  drank  Suc- 
cess to  Fort  Halifax;  which  was 
seconded  by  a  general  discharge  of 
the  Cannon  there. 


' '  The  Inscription  upon  the  Stone 
laid  by  His  Excellency  is  as  follows : 

Quod  felix  sustumq :  sit 
PROVINCAE  MASSACHU- 
SETTENSI 
Hunc  lapidem  posuit 
GULIELMUS  SHIRLEY 
Gubernator 
Sub  auspiciis 
Nobelissimi 
GEORGII  MONTAGUE  DUNK 
Comitis  de  HALIFAX 

PROVINCIARUM 
Quotquot  sunt  Ditionis 
BRITANNICAE 
Per  AMERICAM  Utramque 
Praefecti   atq:  Patroni 
Illustrissimi 
Die  3  Septemhris,  A.  D.  1754" 

Boston  Gazette,  Sept.  24,  1754. 


25 


Zt)c  Building  of  ifort  Meatcrn 


HE  Proprietors  of  the  Ken- 
nebec Purchase  from  the 
late  Colony  of  New  Ply- 
mouth having  voted  on  April  17, 
1754,  to  build  at  Cushnoc  "an 
House  of  Hewen  Timber,"  the  com- 
mittee charged  with  the  duty  of 
having  the  work  done  began  at  once 
to  secure  carpenters  and  supplies. 
To  Gershom  Flagg  of  Boston,  one 
of  the  proprietors,  a  housewright 
and  glazier  by  trade,  was  intrusted 
the  general  oversight  of  these  pre- 
parations. On  April  23rd  he  rode 
to  Woburn  and  Wilmington  in 
search  of  carpenters  to  go  to  the 
Kennebec  and  not  finding  a  suffi- 
cient number  a  few  days  later  he 
went  to  Concord  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. On  May  8th,  fourteen  men 
reported  to  Flagg  at  Boston  and 
they  were^'dieted  and  lodged ' '  at  the 
expense  of  the  Proprietors  until  the 
15th  when  preparations  were  com- 
pleted and  the  party  set  sail  for  the 
Kennebec.  The  food  stuffs  shipped 
at  that  time  seem  to  have  been 
ample.  Veal,  beef,  pork  and  candles 
were  supplied  "for  ye  passage" 
with  four  bushels  of  corn,  two  bush- 


els of  rye,  fifteen  gallons  of  vinegar 
and  seven  pounds Jof^sugar.  A  lot 
"screwed  hay",  i.  e.  pressedhay, 
was  taken  along  for  the  cattle. 
Small  Point,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  was  reached  on  the  17th  and 
there  three  shillings  and  five  and 
one-half  pence  were  paid  for  fresh 
fish. 

Thomas  Hancock  of  Boston,  a 
large  shareholder  in  the  Company, 
sold  most  of  the  supplies  that  were 
shipped  to  Cushnoc.  These  included 
two  hogsheads  of  No.  1  corn;  three 
hogsheads  of  bread,  at  23^  pence 
per  pound;  four  hundred  weight  of 
ship  bread,  at  234  pence  per  pound; 
ten  barrels  of  pork,  "Repackt  & 
Pickled",  at  63^  pence  per  pound; 
and  a  barrel  of  ''cyder",  at  ten 
shilHngs  and  eight  pence.  Among 
other  items  were  thirty-two  gallons 
of  molasses,  at  fourteen  shillings 
per  gallon;  two  iron  pots,  at  eighty- 
seven  shillings;  a  pot  hook;  bowl 
and  plates.  In  June,  the  workmen 
were  supplied  with  salmon  and 
half  a  sturgeon  and  tobacco  was 
allowed  them  for  "extra  work".  On 
June  13th,  the  following  hardware 


20 


JTbe  Builbing  of  ]fort  Meetern 


was  charged  to  the  Company's  ac- 
count and  shipped  to  the  Kennebec 
by   Captain   McFadden : — 

200  30d  Nails,  at  60s. 

2000  8d  do  at  3/8 

1009  6d  do  at  6s. 

150  Spikes  at  £5. 

12  Steel  Shod  Shovels--1.16.0 

2  Iron  Socket  Shovels  18.8 

6  Square  Spades  2.0.0 

2  Iron  Spades,  wt  63}^  lb.  2.2.4 

8000  20d  Nails  at  10/. 

6  Pick  Axes  1.12.0 

1  Coil  3  Inch  Rope  6.2.7 

1  Cask  4d  Nails  at  2/8 

1  do  lOd  at  6/8 

The  articles  of  agreement  signed 
by  Gershom  Flagg  on  May  7,  1754, 
to  construct  the  Fort  at  Cushnoc, 
were  as  follows: — 

' '  Articles  of  Agreement  indented 
&  made  the  Seventh  day  of  May 
Anno  Dom:  1754,  in  the  Twenty 
Seventh  year  of  His  Majestys 
Reign,  Between  Gershom  Flagg  of 
Boston  in  the  County  of  Suffolk 
Carpenter  of  the  one  part,  and 
Thomas  Hancock  Esq;  Silvester 
Gardiner  Physician;  William  Bow- 
doin  Mercht;  Benjamin  Hallo  well 
Esq;  &  James  Bowdoin  Esq;  all  of 
Boston,  a  Committee  appointed 
by  the  Plymouth  Company  respect- 
ing the  Building  a  Fort  or  Garrison 
&  Barrack  &  Store  on  Kennebec 
River  near  a  place  called  Cushinau, 
of  the  other  part  as  follows  Viz; 
First  the  said  Gershom  Flagg  doeth 
covenant  &  agree  that  he  will  with 
all  convenient  Speed  proceed  from 
said  Boston  to  said  Coushinau  in 


such  Vessell  the  said  Company  shall 
provide  &  being  there  arrived  he  the 
said  Gershom  Flagg  shall  and  will 
take  upon  him  the  supervising  & 
management  of  said  Buildings  for 
the  use  of  the  said  Plymouth  Com- 
pany agreeable  to  a  plan  drawn  by 
the  said  Gershom  Flagg  and  exhib- 
ited to  said  Committee.  That  the 
said  Buildings  shall  be  Hewen  Tim- 
ber and  to  Consist  of  Two  Block 
Houses  twenty  four  Feet  square 
for  two  angles,  and  two  Watch 
boxes  twelve  feet  square  each  for 
the  other  two  Angles,  and  a  large 
Barrack  &  Store  one  hundred  feet 
long,  thirty  two  feet  wide  &  two 
story  high  also  of  hewen  Timber, 
the  lower  Story  to  be  twelve  inches 
thick  &  the  Upper  story  ten  inches 
thick,  also  to  Picket  in  the  Distance 
of  Thirty  feet  from  every  Part  of 
said  Buildings. 

''And  the  said  Committee  for 
themselves  &  for  account  &  on 
Behalf  of  the  said  Plymouth  Com- 
pany do  fully  and  absolutely  Im- 
power  &  Request  the  said  Gershom 
Flagg  to  hire  a  number  of  hands  the 
cheapest  he  can  for  Hewing  Timber 
&  Carrying  on  and  Compleating 
said  Buildings,  and  also  do  Impower 
the  said  Flagg  to  let  out  any  Part 
of  the  Buildings  by  Jobb  Lump  or 
Otherwise  as  he  shall  judge  most  for 
said  Companys  advantage  and  ^fur- 
ther to  purchase  any  Timber  ,  or 
other  Lumber  shingles  Boards  &c 
as  he  shall  judge  necessary  for  carry- 
ing on  said  Works,  and  the  said  Com- 
mittee do  Covenant  &  agree  with  the 


27 


j;7r..Lr...  u  u....ij  u. 


  IPlau^ot  ffott  Mestern  yag^ 

TTld  CLIFROM  A  MAP  ENGRAVED  IN51755  BY  THOMAS  JOHNSTON 


said  Flagg  well  &  truly  to  pay  or 
cause  to  be  paid  unto  him  the 
said  Gershom  Flagg  his  Executors 
or  assigns  for  his  Service  in  the 
Supervising  &  Management  of  said 
Buildings  the  sum  of  Five  ShiUings 
SterHng  money  of  Great  Britain  per 
day  for  each  and  every  day  the  said 
Gershom  Flagg  shall  be  in  their 
Service  and  Employ;  and  further 
the  said  Committee  do  agree  with 
the  said  Flagg  to  pay  him  for  all  and 
every  Part  of  the  Lumber  materials 
&  things  he  shall  agree  or  engage  for 
the  use  of  said  Company  for  &  about 
said  Works,  also  for  hands  he  shall 
hire;  and  further  said  Connnittee 


do  Agree  to  pay  on  Demand  all 
such  Drafts  the  said  Gershom  Flagg 
shall  draw  in  Consequence  of 
any  Agreement  by  the  said  Flagg 
made  or  which  he  shall  make  for 
the  hire  of  hands  or  materials  & 
things  supplyed  for  the  said  Com- 
panys  use  for  or  about  said  Works, 
for  the  payment  of  which  drafts  the 
said  Gershom  Flagg  shall  not  be 
lyable,  and  Lastly  the  said  Commit- 
tee do  Covenant  and  agree  that  the 
said  Gershom  Flagg  shall  have  and 
hereby  hath  Liberty  to  advance  & 
proceed  from  said  Coushinau  with 
the  Forces  to  Teconick  the  said 
Flagg  appointing  and  leaving  a  pro- 


28 


JLDc  Buil5ing  of  ffort  Meetcrn 


per  overseer  in  his  room  &  stead  to 
Carry  on  said  Works. 

''In  Witness  Whereof  the  said 
parties  have  hereunto  Interchange- 
ably sett  their  hands  &  Seals  the 
day  &  year  first  before  written 
Gershom  Flagg. 

''Signed,  Sealed  &  Delivered  in 
the  presence  of  us 

' '  Charles  Apthorp 

"Stephen  Apthorp" 

"Mem:  Seventh  May  1754.  Be- 
fore Signing  &  Seahng  the  afore- 
going Contract  the  said  Committee 
do  agree  with  the  said  Flagg  that 
he  shall  be  at  Liberty  upon  his 
leaving  Couishinau  to  proceed  for 
Treconick  to  lett  or  hire  out  the 
parts  of  said  Buildings  by  Jobb 
Lump  or  otherwise,  to  such  hands 
or  Workmen  as  he  shall  appoint  & 
Judge  most  for  ye  Benefit  &  advan- 
tage of  said  Plymouth  Company, 
any  thing  in  said  Contract  Con- 
tained to  ye  Contrary  in  any  wise 
notwithstanding. ' ' 

Gershom  Flagg  was  then  a  man 
of  nearly  fifty  years  and  already 
had  had  experience  in  frontier  work 
having  been  at  Fort  Richmond  in 
1740  at  the  time  it  was  rebuilt. 
He  also  went  to  the  Penobscot  in 
1759  to  rebuild  Fort  Pownal,  as  a 
contractor  for  a  part  of  the  work. 
When  the  lands  at  Cushnoc  were 
laid  out  by  the  Company  he  re- 
ceived his  share  and  some  of  the 
family  settled  on  the  land  then 
received  by  him.  He  died  suddenly 
in  1771  at  the  ''Brattle  Tavern", 
Boston.    His  nephew  Gershom,  Jr., 


who  was  employed  at  the  building 
of  Fort  Western,  lived  at  Lancaster, 
Mass.,  and  afterwards  settled  atClin- 
ton,  Maine,  where  he  died.  The 
services  of  Gershom  Flagg,  Sr.,  be- 
gan with  May  2nd  and  continued  un- 
til July  24th.  The  next  day  General 
Winslow  and  the  troops  (ten  com- 
panies) set  out  on  the  march  up  the 
river  to  Teconnet  and  Flagg  prob- 
ably went  with  them  as  he  had  pro- 
vided for  in  the  terms  of  his  contract 
with  the  Committee  of  the  Proprie- 
tors. His  work  had  been  the  getting 
out  of  the  timber,  hewing  it  and  then 
seeing  that  it  was  rafted  up  the  river 
from  Richmond  to  Cushnoc.  The 
expedition  had  reached  Cushnoc  on 
July  12th  and  undoubtedly  the 
timber  was  built  into  the  walls  of  the 
Fort  immediately.  Flagg's  agree- 
ment provided  that  he  should  be 
paid  at  the  rate  of  five  shilHngs  per 
day  but  his  payroll  shows  that  he 
received  six'shilHngs  and  eight  pence. 

Gershom  Flagg,  junior,  was  on  the 
payroll  from  May  22nd.  He  enter- 
ed as  a  carpenter  and  received 
£2.13.4  per'month.  He  took  charge 
of  the  work  on  July  22nd  and  after- 
wards submitted  a  payroll  listing 
forty-five  names  none  of  which  dup- 
licate the  names  on  his  uncle's  roll. 
These  men  were  employed  in  ''Build- 
ing the  Main  House  and  Picketting 
in  the  Barracks  and  sundry  other 
labours  Done  there",  and  were  paid 
only  one  shilling  and  four  pence 
per  day  usually  only  working  a  few 
days.  Some  of  them  were  soldiers 
from  the  Concord,  Mass.,  company 


29 


]fort  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


then  doin^  guard  duty,  and  some 
were  settlers  living  down  the  river 
who  had  come  up  to  work  on  the 
Fort.  Among  other  labor  performed 
was  the  ' 'carrying  24,300  Bricks 
from  the  Store  to  the  house." 

Capt.  Eleazer  Melvin  of  Concord, 
Mass.,  commanded  a  company  of 
men  that  had  been  detailed  for  ser- 
vice in  the  Kennebec  expedition 
and  during  its  progress  the  clerk 
of  the  company,  John  Barber,  kept 
a  journal  which  is  of  considerable 
interest.  The  company  of  sixty-nine 
men  marched  from  Concord  on  May 
30, 1754  and  the  next  day  were  trans- 
ported from  Medford  to  Castle  Will- 
iam in  Boston  harbor  where  they  re- 
mained until  June  22nd  when  they 
embarked  on  board  the  sloop  "Suc- 
cess," bound  for  Falmouth  (now 
Portland).  Governor  Shirley  sailed 
the  same  day  on  the  ship  ' 'Shirley 
Galley."  A  violent  storm  came  on 
the  next  day  and  the  sloop  put  into 
York  harbor.  Almost  all  the  men 
were  sea  sick  and  the  gale  ''tore 
away  our  Gibb  Saile  which  put  our 
men  into  a  great  surprise,"  writes 
John  Barber.  Two  days  later  the 
sloop  set  sail  again  and  on  the 
passage  "Benjamin  Kindale  fell  from 
the  Bowie  Spleat  and  went  under 
the  keele  of  the  Sloop  came  up  att 
the  Stearn  and  Sprang  up  into  the 
Whale  Boate  Laughing". 

Falmouth  was  reached  June  26th 
and  there  the  troops  camped  on 
Bangs  Island,  until  July  4th  when 
the  expedition  sailed  for  the  Kenne- 
bec river  arriving  at  Fort  Richmond 


on  the  6th.  The  following  entries 
in  the  journal  supply  information 
as  to  events  at  Cushnoc  and  Te- 
connet : — 

''July  8.  Sailed  from  Richmonds 
Fort  When  the  Raft  of  timber  for 
the  first  fort  Came  up  the  river 
with  above  three  hundred  tons  in  it. 

"July  12.  Landed  at  Cooshenack 
where  the  EngHsh  had  Built  a  fort 
formerly. 

"July  14.  Col.  Prebble  and  Capt. 
Melvin  went  up  the  River  with 
forty  two  men  in  four  whale  boats 
to  Teconnet  seventeen  miles  to  view 
a  place  where  to  build  ye  uper  fort. 

"July  18.  The  Gundelow  came 
up  from  Richmonds  fort  with  a 
number  of  carriage  Guns  and  some 
stores. 

"July  19.  Capt.  Josiah  Church  in 
the  sloop  Wheele  of  Fortune — ar- 
rived here  with  one  hundred  and 
Eight  new  Recrutes. 

"July  25.  Major  General  Wins- 
low  sett  out  upon  the  March  from 
fort  Western  with  ten  Companies 
was  saluted  with  the  Discharge  of 
five  Great  Guns:  We  had  two  Gun- 
delows  in  the  river  ten  Whale  Boats 
and  Eighteen  Battoes  with  Stores. 

' '  Ju Y  29.  As  the  armey  were hale- 
ing  up  the  Gundelows  over  the  first 
falls,  ten  Indians  Came  Down  the 
river  in  four  Canoes  which  alarmed 
the  whole  army  who  att  first  took 
them  for  Enemies.  But  they  Proved 
to  be  friends  for  they  Informed  Gen- 
eral Winslow  of  two  men  that  had 
Deserted  the  Army  viz:  Thomas 
Filer  &  John  Wall  and  had  Gott  up 


30 


moc\i  Ibouse  at  fort  Ibalitax 

NOW  STANDING  ON  ITS  ORIGINAL  LOCATION  AT  WINSLOW,  MAINE 


as  f  arr  as  Teconnett  and  had  Sold 
one  of  their  Guns  which  Gun  they 
had  Brought  Down  with  them  and 
the  men  were  Gone  for  Canada;  the 
General  then  gave  orders  to  the 
Indians  to  follow  them  and  Bringe 
them  back  Dead  or  alive  and  Prom- 
ised them  a  Reward  of  fifty  Pounds 
old  tenour  and  ten  Gallons  of  Rum. 

''July  25.  Major  General  Wins- 
low  with  Part  of  his  army  Landed  att 
Teconnett  Point  where  the  Plymooth 
Company  had  Built  a  fort  abuve 


one  hundred  years  Since  42  Paces 
Longe.  *  In  about  two  hours  after  we 
Landed  two  of  the  Indians  Brought 
down  the  two  Deserters  to  us  and 
the  General  sent  them  to  fort  West- 
ern there  to  be  kept  waiting  for  the 
Governor's  Orders : 

''July  27.  The  General  with  the 
Captains  held  a  Counsel  to  Consult 
whereto  build  the  Fort  and  agreed  to 
set  it  where  the  old  fort  stood :  In  the 

*This  statement  is  an  error.  The  ear- 
lier fort  or  trading  post  was  at  Ciishnoc. 


moch  mouse  Built  in  1921  at  ffort  Mestern 


afternoone  the  Guns  and  other 
Stores  were  haled  up, 

"July  28.  The  Flagg  was  hoisted 
and  att  twelve  of  the  Clock  all  the 
Guns  were  fired. 

''July  30.  Att  ni2;ht  the  Store 
house  was  Broke  open  by  one  of 
the  Centery  being  in  Liquor,  a 
number  of  Limmonds  were  found 
with  him,  the  next  Day  a  Court 
Marshell  was  Called.  He  Beged 
forgiveness  and  was  acquited:  this 
Day  Col  Prebble  and  Col  Frye 
arrived  here  with  a  number  of  men 
&  some  stores. 

"August  2.  Capt  Melven  with 
three  hundred  and  above  Marched 
to  fort  Western  for  Bread  the 
night  following  the  Remaineing  Part 


of  the  army  were  alarmed  b}^  the 
fireing  three  Guns  over  Sebasstoo- 
cooke  river: 

'  'August  5.  The  Maine  Guard  was 
Put  under  Guard  by  the  Generals 
orders. 

"August  6.  Last  night  the  two 
Deserters  Cutt  a  hole  thro  the  floor 
and  are  gone  off  Leaving  their 
Cloathing  behind  them:" 

On  August  8th,  General  Winslow 
and  506  men  began  ''the  longe 
March  for  Norridgewalk,"  and  John 
Barber  went  with  them.  Unfor- 
tunately the  last  of  the  journal  is 
missing  and  so  we  lack  his  account 
of  what  he  observed  when  he  retwirn- 
ed  to  Fort  Western  after  the  march 
up  the  Kennebec. 


32 


Zt)c  mimrxQ  of  ifort  Meetcrn 


On  the  pay  roll  of  Gershom  Flagg, 
senior,  his  name  appears  as  ' '  Over- 
seer ' '  and  is  followed  by  the  names 
of  sixteen  carpenters,  ten ''schorers", 
fom^  ' '  labourers ' '  and  one  teamster. 
One  of  the  ' '  schorers ' '  was  also  paid 
for  seven  days  labor  "gondolowing'', 
i.e.  working  on  one  of  the  large  flat 
boats.  John  Edwards,  a  mason, 
worked  half  a  month  and  Robert 
Williams,  mason,"  was  employed 
during  the  month  of  November. 
Solomon  Jennings,  "ye  Smith,"  was 
paid  for  sundry  jobs. 

The  logs  used  in  building  the  walls 
of  Fort  Western  were  felled  and 
hewn  near  Fort  Shirley  and  then 
floated  up  the  river  on  the  tide, 
a  measure  of  precaution  against 
Indian  attack  that  seemed  necessary. 
Work  on  the  main  building  dragged 
along  for  the  fitting  up  of  rooms  and 
putting  in  place  the  interior  finish 
was  going  on  during  the  month  of 
November.  A  letter  from  Gershom 
Flagg,  junior,  dated  at ''Fort  Weston 
Sept'br  3d  1754'',  and  addressed 
to  Doctor  Gardiner  in  Boston,  runs 
as  follows : — 

' '  Sr.  These  Lines  are  to  Enforme 
you  that  I  am  in  Good  Health  at 
this  time  and  I  would  Enforme  you 
that  I  have  Undertaken  For  to  Do 
the  work  that  My  Uncle  Gershom 
Flagg  Has  for  to  Do  and  through 
his  Desire  I  Write  to  you  for  to 
Desire  you  to  Send  Me  Down  two 
Barels  of  Rhum  and  a  half  Barel  of 
Melases  and  two  Quire  of  Paper  By 
Mr  Thomas  Church  the  Barer  of 


this  Letter  Commander  of  the 
Leopard;  and  your  so  Doing  Will 
Obhge  Me  Yours  to  Serve : 

/'Gershom  Flagg,  Jr." 

On  September  11th,  it  was  agreed 
with  Aaron  Willard  to  go  down  from 
Boston  ^'with  several  hands  to  as- 
sist Mr.  Flagg  in  finishing  said  Fort 
and  by  him  a  letter  was  sent  to  Sam- 
uel Oldham  requesting  him  ''to  go 
to  Cushnoc  &  build  the  Chimneys. ' ' 
The  letter  to  Mr.  Oldham  fol- 
lows : — 

''Boston  Septem.  12  1754. 
"Mr.  Sam.  Oldham,  Sr. 

"As  the  Plymouth  Comp.  (so 
called)  are  conserned  in  building  a 
Fort  at  Cushnac  and  in  the  Main 
house  several  Stacks  of  Chimneys 
will  be  wanted,  we  should  be  glad  to 
employ  you  in  building  them  and  we 
will  give  you  the  same  price  for  your 
work  as  Doctor  Gardner  gave  you 
for  what  you  did  for  him.  We  would 
have  you  use  clay  where  you  can  & 
build  them  according  to  Mr.  Ger- 
shom Flagg's  plans.  If  this  proposal 
is  agreable  to  you  we  desire  you  will 
begin  &  compleat  the  Work  with  all 
the  Dispatch  possible. 

"We  desire  you  will  call  at  Frank- 
fort &  view  some  Lime  we  have 
there  &  let  us  know  at  first  oppo 
whether  there  be  enough,  &  whether 
it  is  good  and  fit  for  that  use;  the 
main  house  must  be  underpinned ;  & 
if  you  will  undertake  it  we  will  pay 
you  at  the  same  Rate  as  Work- 
men are  paid  for  such  Work  in 
Town,  &  we  will  take  Care  that 


33 


Ifort  Meetern  on  tbe  iRennebec 


you  be  reasonably  supplied  with 
Stones  for  that  purpose. 
''We  are 

"Your  humb.  Servt" 
Unsigned  copy  of  letter. 

Samuel  Oldham  undertook  the 
work  for  we  find  among  the 
Company  records  the  following  bill 
for  supplies  deUvered  to  him,  viz : — 

''Sundrys  Delivered  to  Mr.  Sam- 
uel Oldham  by  Captt  James  Upward 
at  Fort  Western 

To  26  Galls  Rum  Deld 

at  28/0  T  £36.08.0 

To  94  lb.  Bread  at  2/ 0  T  9.16.0 

To  84  lb.  Pork  at  3/   12.12.0 

To  3  pecks  of  potatoes  at 

5/   15.0 

To  Sundrys  paid  to  his 

workmen  the  Ewinges  of 

Topsham   6.00.0 

Old  Tenor  £65.11.0 
'  *  This  is  a  coppey  of  Captt  James 
Howards  account  sent  me  Nov.  29, 
1754. 

"Gershom  Flagg" 

An  undated  rough  draft  of  a  letter 
to  Aaron  Willard  throws  light  on  the 
methods  employed  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Fort. 

''Mr  Aron  Willard 

* '  Sir  We  desire  the  favore  of  you 
to  imploy  Men  to  Gett  a  Quantity 
of  Stone  from  the  Bank  about  one 
quarter  of  a  Mile  above  the  Fort  at 
Cushnock  or  elsewhere  &  put  into  a 
Gundalow  of  Doctor  Gardner's  or 
Mr  Goodwins  and  carry  down  the 
River  and  land  them  as  nigh''as  pos- 
sible to  the  Fort  and  then  gett  hands 


to  carry  them  up  to  the  Fort;  agree 
with  the  people  by  the  great  or  other- 
wise as  you  think  best  in  the  cheap- 
est manner  you  can  to  underpin  the 
Fort;  we  desire  you  will  take  care 
that  the  Mason  lay  the  foundation 
Deep  enough  that  the  fort  may  not 
heave  it.  The  Government  have 
got  a  Quantity  of  Bricks  at  Cushnoc 
which  the  Generall  wrote  us  we 
might  take  out  of  which  we  would 
have  you  take  what  may  be  want- 
ing to  build  the  Chimneys  and  keep 
an  acct.  of  them  therefore" 

The  itemized  bills  rendered  by 
GershomFlagg,  senior,  to  his  nephew 
Gershom,  who  took  charge  of  the 
work  on  July  22,  1754,  and  a  simi- 
lar bill  rendered  by  the  nephew  cov- 
ering work  done  by  him,  revealed 
many  interesting  items  relating  to 
the  construction  of  the  Fort. 

May  22. 

To  2K  Months  Work  at  53/4  pr 
month  Ended  July  24 
For  Building  the  Great  House 
100  feet  Long  &  32  Wide  and 
finishing  the  4  Block  Houses 
with  sundry  other  Jobs  £6.13.4 

To  my  Work  in  finishing  the  2 
Large  Blockhouses  24 . 16 . 0 

To  finishing  the  two  small  Ditto 
  2.10.8 


£27.06.8 

Novm. 

To  Getting  16  Large  Fillers  and 
framing  and  Boarding  the  Main 
Houseand  laying  all  Floors  and 
making  five  Story  of  Stairs  & 
all  partitions  Four  partitions 
through  the  Main  House  in  both 
Storys  &  2  partitions  in  Cellar 


34 


JLbc  BuilftiUQ  of  fovt  Meatern 


of  Ditto  &  Putting  up  all  Win- 
dows makeing  14  Inner  Doors 
&  Cases  &  Sixteen  Out  Side 
Window  Shutters  &  3  Out  Side 
Doors  and  Hanging  all  Ditto 
with  Several  other  Jobbs  also 
Sundry  Disbursements  as  per 

Acc'tt  145.7.6 

To  Sundry  Persons  for  Worke 
done  about  the  picketing  & 
gait  Getting  Stones  Clay  & 
Sand  for  the  Masons  Carrying 
Bricks  &  Water  &  Sundry 
other  Labours  36 . 6 . 9 


£215.14.3 

Mr  Gershom  Flagg  to  Gershom 
Flagg  Junr 

For  work  done  on  the  East  River 
framing  Blockhouses  &c  or  Cush- 
noc  for  the  Plymouth  Company  and 
finishing  Ditto  per  Agreement 
July  22,  1754 

To  two  months  &  half  work 
framing  the  Blockhouses  at 
53/4  6.13.4 

To  finishing  two  Large  Block- 
houses at  12.8.0   24.16.0 

To  finishing  two  Large  Flankers 
at  1.5.4   2.10.8 

To  Hewing  400  feet  of  Timber 
for  Sumers  &  Beams.  ...  2.02.8 

To  Hewing  2444  feet  of  Timber 
for  said  Houses  13.00.8 

To  Hewing  400  feet  &  Rafting 
the  same....   2.02.8 

To  framing  of  183  Squair  of 
framing  &  Boarding  ye  Roof 
  67.02.0 

To  Shingling  of  42  Squairs  at 
4/8  per  Squair   9.14.8 

To  Laying  of  84  Squair  of  Ruff 
floors  at  3/   12.12.0 

To  making  all  partitions  Plain 'd 
andTongu'd  13.06.8 

To  makeing  14  Inner  Doors 
Panneled  &  Battin'd  3.05.4 


To  makeing  &  Hanging  3  Out 
Side  doors   16.9 

To  makeing  4  pairs  of  plan'd 
Stairs  &  1  pair  Ruff  do .  .    3 . 04 . 0 

To  makeing  the  Outside  Celler 
Doors  &  frame  Comp....  9.4 

To  makeing  7  hanging  16  Win- 
dow Shutters  at  1/6   1 . 06 . 8 

To  makeing  of  Cabbins  for  22 
men  &  a  Guard  Birth  for  8 
men  1.08.0 

To  Hewing  of  timber  &  fram- 
ing &  planking  up  the  Vacant 
parts  of  each  End  of  the 
House  &  Joyning  and  Make- 
ing a  Gate  in  Ditto  2.08.0 

To  makeing  of  Dressers  &  Shel- 
ves &  Sink   13.4 

To  makeing  3  Dormond  Win- 
dows in  ve  Roof  at  6/  each.  18.0 

To  Capt  fhos.  Cobb  for  himself 
&  4  hands  2  days  in  Getting 
Sixteen  Large  pillers  to  sett  the 
Main  House  upon   1.01.4 

To  framing  &  Setting  up  the 
Great  Gate  Posts  &  Rails  12.0 

To  Cash  paid  Wm.  Hodgs- 
kins  for  8  days  Labour  in 
Bringing  up  Plank  &  Joice 
in  the  Lighter   1.01.4 

To  2  Days  myself  for  Lime  att 
Frankfort   6.8 

To  Cash  paid  Capt.  Howard  for 
500  wt.  of  Hay  at  2/  ....  10.0 

To  5  Days  to  Arowisik  after 
Hay   16.8 

To  Cash  pay'd  a  man  from  Rich- 
mond  for   Ditto   6.0 

To  Cash  paid  for  half  a  Tun  of 
Hay  att  Arrowsick   18.8 

To  the  Disbursement  for  Raising 
the  Great  house  pd  by  G.  Flagg 

To  751b.  of  Pork  To  half  Hun'd 
Bread  at  21/4  per  Cwt ...  1.13.0 

To  two  Bushels  of  potatoes  at  2/ 
To  1  Gall  Mollosses  at  2/2  6.2 

To  17%  Gallons  of  Rum  at  2/8 
per  Gall'n   2.06.8 


35 


]fort  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


To  6  Days  provisions  for  5 
hauds  whilst  picketting  Viztt. 
To  30  lb.  of  Bread  at  1/8  per 
lb.  30  lb.  of  Pork  at  2/6 
To  6  Quarts  Beans  at  2/.  .  18.33^ 

£179.07.6H 

The  newspapers  pubhshed  at 
Boston  occasionally  supply  infor- 
mation relating  to  the  work  going  on 
at  the  Kennebec.  In  the  August  6th, 
issue  of  the  Boston  Gazette  is  pub- 
lished some  account  of  Governor 
Shirley's  expedition  in  which  it  is 
stated  that  the  Governor  took  pass- 
age for  Falmouth  in  the  ship  Bur- 
ieau,  Capt.  Inches,  instead  of  in  the 
Shirley  Galley,  as  recorded  by  John 
Barber.  The  newspaper  continues 
with  some  account  of  the  conference 
with  the  Indians  at  Casco  Bay 
and  after  mentioning  the  Fort 
at  Cushnoc  states  that  cannon  had 
been  mounted  at  Treconick  and  the 
ground  marked  out  for  a  fort. 

In  the  August  27th  issue  of  the 
Gazette  is  printed  a  glowing  account 
of  the  Kennebec  country  undoubted- 
ly written  by  one  of  the  proprietors 
with  the  thought  of  encouraging 
settlers  to  emigrate.  The  writer 
evidently  accompanied  the  expedi- 
tion when  it  went  up  the  river 
from  Fort  Richmond. 

"Extract  of  a  letter  from  Cushnoc 
(in  the  Eastern  Parts  of  the  Pro- 
vince) dated  July  23d,  1754. 

" — When  we  left  Frankfort  to  go 
to  Richmond,  I  was  surpriz'd  to  see 
on  the  ground,  and  that  had  not 
been  clear'd  this  two  years,  English 


Grass  as  high  as  a  man's  middle  and 
as  thick  as  it  could  stand;  and  the 
English  Corn  was  so  extraordinary, 
that  it  put  me  in  mind  of  the  Seven 
Years  Plenty  in  the  Land  of  Egypt : 
upon  counting  the  Stalks  that  sprung 
from  one  Root,  they  amounted  to 
above  Eighty.  On  the  10th  we  trav- 
el'd  up  Cobaseconta  River,  which 
affords  fine  Fal's;  At  two  Miles 
Distance  from  the  mouth,  I  suppose 
ten  Mills  might  be  erected,  and 
Water  enough  to  keep  them  going  all 
the  Year: — In  returning,  we  struck 
off  from  the  River  to  the  west- 
ward, which  is  all  oak  land,  no  un- 
der-Brush,  and  the  Trees  very  scat- 
tering, &  might  easily  be  cleared, 
and  as  fine  a  soil  and  as  beautiful 
a  Country  as  any  Man  can  possi- 
bly desire  to  settle  in ;  and  abounds 
with  plenty  of  divers  sorts  of  Fish. 
Then  we  proceeded  up  the  River  to 
Cushnoc,  where  we  have  built 
the  Fort;  above  which  'tis  shoal  in 
several  places,  and  the  channel  very 
intricate,  which  nothing  but  Exper- 
ience will  make  us  Masters  of.  The 
Banks  of  the  Point  on  which  the 
the  Fort  stands  is  about  30  Feet 
high,  and  commands  the  River  for 
a  Mile  up,  and  as  far  down;  there 
is  some  High  Land  on  the  Back  of 
it,  but  out  of  Musket  shot;  and  a 
Block-house  on  that  Hill  would 
prevent  the  approach  of  an  Enemy. 
We  have  raised  two  Block  Houses 
24  Feet  square  each  and  two  Watch- 
Boxes  each  12  Feet  square;  the  Pick- 
ets are  cut,  and  part  of  the  Trench 
dug;  and  a  fine  road  is  made  from 


36 


JL\)c  Buil&ing  of  fort  Meetern 


the  Water  up  the  Bank.  On  the  14th 
we  went  towards  Teconnick  to  sound 
the  River,  and  found  not  more  than 
three  Feet  of  Water  in  several  Places 
that  might  be  then  depended  on, 
considerable  Falls  in  several  Places, 
the  Stream  very  rapid,  and  many 
shoal  Rocks;  the  Water  being  then 
very  low  in  the  River,  'tis  thought 
it  might  be  better  passing  when  the 
Freshets  are  higher.  The  country 
between  Cushnoc  and  Teconnick 
consists  of  exceeding  good  land,  has  a 
vast  Quantity  of  white  Oak  Timber, 
considerable  Intervals  of  Grass  on 
the  sides  of  the  River  as  high  as  a 
man's  head;  and,  where  we  propose 
to  build  the  Fort,  there  is  an  Hun- 
dred Acres  of  Land  clear, — and,  as 
to  the  Pleasantness  of  the  Scitua- 
tion,I  think  it  exceeds  any  I  ever 
saw  in  the  woods.  There  is  nothing 
wanting  to  make  this  the  most  flour- 
ishing Part  of  the  Province,  but  to 
be  well  settled  with  People,  whose 
industry  would  prompt  them  to 
cultivate  the  Lands,  and  whose 
Frugality  would  prevent  them 
from  running  into  Extravagancy. 
In  short,  the  Land  appears  to  me 
capable  of  yielding  every  thing 
that  can  be  expected  from  the  most 
fertile  Part  of  this  Province;  and 
the  building  these  Forts  will  be  a 
great  Protection  to  the  Inhabi- 
tants." 

The  September  10th  issue  of  the 
same  newspaper  announces  the  re- 
turn of  Governor  Shirley  to 
Boston  the  day  before  and  states 
that  a  road  of  communication  is  to 


be  made  between  Cushenoc,  and 
Teconnet  for  the  transportation  of 
stores  and  marching  soldiers  and 
will  be  finished  in  a  few  days. 

Among  other  papers  relating  to 
the  building  of  Fort  Western  is  a 
"Memorandum"  signed  by  Sam- 
uel Goodwin,  the  surveyor  of  the 
Company,  a  proprietor  who  lived 
much  of  the  time  at  Frankfort.  He 
evidently  hoped  to  secure  a  contract 
to  build  the  block  houses  at  the  new 
fort.  The  detailed  estimate  is  of 
much  curious  interest  and  furnishes 
the  information  that  originally  the 
block  houses  may  have  had  brick 
chimneys  and  glazed  windows. 

"MEMORANDUM 

To  a  block  House  20  feet  Sqr. 
8  feet  high 

To  finding  all  Timber  for  the 
Sides  Rooff  &  Floors  1000  feet 
at  3.10.00  O.  T.  pr  hundred 

  35.0.0 

To  Joyce  for  the  floors  hewed  or 
Sawed  350  at  the  rate  of  12 
prM  4.5.0 

To  framing  and  Raising  ye 
House  35.0.0 

To  boards  IM  and  half  at  £13. 
pr  thousand  at  the  Spot.  19.0.0 

To  4  thousand  Shingles  at 
1.5.0   13.0.0 

To  Laying  4  thousand  Shingles 
at    1.5.0   5.0.0 

To  boarding  the  Roof  and  gabel 
ends  Chamfered   3.15.0 

To  Laying  2  floors  Ruff .  .  2.10.0 

To  making  2  window  Frames 
finding  Stuff   3.00.0 

To  making  a  plank  door  and 
hanging  it  with  wooden  hinges 
and  finding  plank   3.10.0 


37 


3fort  Meetern  on  tbe  IRennebec 


To  3  thousand  brick  for  these 
chimneys  at  6 . 0 . 0  at  Frank- 
fort  18.0.0 

To  gundolowing  to  the  Spot  6.0.0 

To  Laying  3  thousand  of  brick 
at  £4.  a  thousand   12.0.0 

To  2  bushels  of  Lime  to  ton 
this  chimney  1 .0.0 

To  4  thousand  Shingle  nails  for 
the  block  House  &  IJ^  thous- 
and board  ditto  10.10.0 

To  hawling  all  Timber  for  the 
block  House   8.0.0 


the  whole  lott  at  one  block  House 

176.10.0 
2.10.0 

old  Tenor  £180.00.0 
"I  can  have  the  Houses  built  for 
the  above  sum  for  each  house 

"Sam'l  Goodwin" 


How  did  the  two  forts,  Halifax 
and  Western,  obtain  their  names? 
Hutchinson,  writing  not  long  after 
they  were  built,  states  that  the  fort 
at  Taconnett  falls  was  named  by 
Governor  Shirley  ''out  of  respect 
for  the  then  Secretary  of  State" — 
Lord  Halifax.  The  fort  at  Cushnoc, 
the  Governor  ' '  called  Fort  Western 
from  a  gentlemen  of  his  acquaint- 
ance in  Sussex,  England."  This 
probably  was  Thomas  Western  who 
died  in  1765,  and  whose  mother  was 
Mary,  sister  of  Sir  Richard  Shirley 
of  Preston,  co.  Sussex.  Governor 
Shirley  was  born  in  1693  at  Preston, 
CO.  Sussex,  and  the  Shirleys  and 
Westerns  of  Preston  intermarried 
several  times. 


38 


Mbat  Ibappene5  at  ]fort  Meetern 


ONG  before  constructive  work 
at  Fort  Western  was  com- 
pleted General  Winslow  placed 
Lieutenant  James  Howard  in  com- 
mand of  the  men  stationed  there. 
James  Howard  was  a  Scotchman 
who  had  settled  at  St.  George's  in 
the  Waldo  Patent  about  1736  and 
having  become  thoroughly  familiar 
with  conditions  along  the  Maine 
frontier  had  joined  Governor  Shir- 
ley's expedition  to  the  Kennebec. 
His  family  soon  followed  him,  at 
first  living  at  Fort  Richmond  and 
later  at  Fort  Western.  His  brother 
Lieutenant  Samuel  Howard  also 
came  to  the  Kennebec  at  about  the 
same  time  and  served  as  a  lieu- 
tenant under  Captain  Lithgow  in 
command  at  Fort  Halifax.  Be- 
cause of  possible  Indian  attack  no 
attempt  was  made  to  settle  the 
Country  about  the  Fort  until  after 
the  fall  of  Quebec  in  1759  and  no 
houses  were  built  at  Cushnoc  out- 
side the  palisade  until  then.  The 
Fort  never  was  attacked.  It  re- 
tained its  garrison,  nevertheless, 
because  of  unsettled  Indian  affairs 
and  as  late  as  January,  1764,  Gov- 
ernor Bernard  recommended  to  the 
General  Court  that  the  Fort  be  main- 


tained. In  1762  the  garrison  was 
reduced  to  one  lieutenant,  one  ar- 
mourer, two  sergeants  and  thirteen 
privates.  Preserved  in  the  State 
Archives  at  Boston,  is  a  letter  from 
Lieut.  James  Howard  written  to 
Lieut-Governor  Phips  announcing 
his  appointment  as  commander  of 
the  Fort. 

''Fort  Richmond  Octbr  11th  1754 

''May  it  please  your  Excellency 
(Agreeable  to  General  Winslos  Or- 
ders to  me)  I  have  taken  the  Com- 
mand of  Fort  Western  But  find  a 
needsessity  of  coming  here  when  the 
Indians  com  to  Trade  (Which  is 
But  Seldom)  those  that  Com  here 
tell  me  that  there  is  several  of  the 
Naridgwalk  Indians  gone  to  Canada 
and  When  thay  Left  naridgwalk 
they  Intended  To  Joyn  the  Arse- 
gonticooks,  to  Commit  hostilities 
on  our  fronteers  to  the  Westward. 
I  intend  to  spend  part  of  my  time 
here  and  part  at  Fort  Western  till 
furder  orders  from  your  Excellency 
(or  till  Capt.  Lithgow's  Return  from 
Boston)  But  alwise  will  keep  one  of 
my  sons  ther  and  the  other  here 
which  is  Carefull  young  men  and 
well  Aquainted  with  Garrison  af- 
faires, till  your  Excellency  pleas  to 
order  otherwise— 

"I  have  sent  your  Excellency  a 
barrel  of  potatoes  per  this  Bearer 


39 


]fort  Me6tern  on  tbe  iRennebec 


Capt.  McFadien  which  I  pray  3^our 
Excellency  to  Except  From 

' your  mostdutifull  obedient  and 
humble  servant 

''James  Howard" 

The  threatened  Indian  attack  did 
not  materialize  but  the  frontier 
evidently  believed  it  impending  for 
late  in  the  following  winter  Lieu- 
tenant Howard  wrote  to  Governor 
Shirley  of  the  probable  attack  in  the 
spring  and  urged  that  better  guns  be 
sent  to  him  at  once.  ' '  We  have  no 
Coulars  for  this  Fort,"  he  wrote. 
His  letter  is  in  the  Massachusetts 
State  Archives. 

' '  Fort  Western  March  5th  1755 
''May  it  plese  your  Excellency, 
I  am  Very  Loath  to  trouble  you  at 
this  time  Knowing  you  are  in  a 
croud  of  Business  at  this  Junctor, 
but  Beges  your  patiance  to  hear  me 
a  little,  the  provence  Guns  we  have 
hear  are  not  to  be  Depended  on, 
therefore  I  pray  you:l  order 
Som  better,  it  is  Very  probable  we 
shall  have  som  of  our  Franch  and 
Indian  Enemies  to  Visit  us  this 
Spring  and  our  Number  of  men  is 
Small,  the  Ground  about  our  fort  is 
Very  advantagous  for  our  Enemies, 
now  as  our  Enemies  are  Knowing 
to  this  and  Expects  a  great  Quantity 
of  Stores  here  now  Whither  these 
may  not  be  motives  to  Excite  them 
to  make  their  first  and  most  Resa- 
lute  attack  here  and  by  that  means 
think  they  may  Get  Grnnon  to  anoy 
the  other  Forts,  I  Desire  not  to  be 
teadious  or  troublesom  to  your  Ex- 
cellency But  Leave  it  to  your  wise 
Consideration  Whither  we  Don't 
Stand  in  Need  of  ni()r(Mnen  and  more 
and  better  Guns  Seeing  I  Expect 
to  have  orders  to  send  a  detchment 


of  my  men  upon  Several  occasions 
perticularly  to  Guard  up  the  Sloops 
with  the  Stores,  and  this  detech- 
ment  must  be  the  Best  of  the  men, 
and  our  Enemies  Who  Can  Ly  with- 
in one  hundred  and  fifty  yard  of  our 
Fort  In  one  of  the  Gulies  and  we 
Cannot  anoy  them  from  our  forts, 
and  they  Seeing  us  go  out  so  Whither 
it  may  not  Indenger  the  forts 
being  Taken.  We  have  no  Coulars 
for  this  Fort.  I  Conclud  With 
Wishing  His  majesties  arms  Success 
and  Victor^y,  Both  by  sea  and  Land 
and  you  health  and  prosperety  I  beg 
Leave  to  Subscribe  mj^self  your 
Excellencys  most  Dutifull  most 
obedient  and  Humbl  Servent 

''James  Howard" 

This  threatened  Indian  attack 
also  seemed  impending  to  Captain 
Lithgow  in  command  up  the  river  at 
Fort  Halifax  and  he  demanded  two 
hundred  men  to  strengthen  his  post. 
They  were  to  arrive  at  Fort  West- 
ern on  May  10th,  1755,  but  dela3^ed 
coming  in  order  ' '  to  finish  Sowing  & 
planting  their  Fields,"  and  three 
days  later  Captain  Lithgow  wrote 
to  Governor  Shirley,  in  something  of 
a  panic,  urging  haste  on  the  part  of 
the  Government.  A  month  later 
Captain  Lithgow  wrote  to  the  Gov- 
ernor and  gave  some  interesting  de- 
tails in  relation  to  the  methods  em- 
ployed in  transporting  military 
stores  from  Fort  Western  to  Fort 
Halifax. 

"May  it  please  Your  Excellency 
with  submission  I  v^'ould  acquaint 
vou,that  ther  Is  now  Lodged  In  Fort 
Hallifax  a  Suffiency  of  all  Sorts  of 
provisions  to  Subsist  ye  garrison 
there  posted,  till  ye  middle  of  next 


40 


^7^1  on    So  ^^7 


c     a^}}  ^rrt  .re.  a  71 J  6' £    c  ■ 


7 


^/^^y  S^^fit  ma^  (Cf^^'  ///////. 

f}i4y?^^pi^  /hf,^  /r//^f  .y  A"^^  4;'>/  e/i 


1 


///Ar//,,  ^-J^^/ay  //v//  t'^^^^-'^rr  /^e  f^tJ^  o'et^ro  [/}J^,n 

^■^4t4J^  to  \/iku{c^cr/c^z 

a-hd  K^^/^m/f  i/emm.i  ^^^/ftii  '-^'^j^J^  ^ 


jfort  Meetern  on  tbe  ikennebec 


February,!  should  have  con  vayed  ye 
whole  of  ye  stores  theither  had  ye 
River  permitted,  but  being  Diss- 
apointed  by  ye  Forces  not  apper- 
ing  at  Fort  Western  according  to 
the  Time  perficed  which  was  ye 
10th  of  May,  and  thay  not  appering 
till  ye  22d  ye  same  month,  by  which 
Time  the  River  was  fallen  that  we 
could  not  go  up  but  5  Tripps  ye 
last  of  which  we  Could  not  Carry 
our  Boates  more  then  halfe  Lodned, 
for  which  Reason,  as  also  Consid- 
dering  that  ye  Expence  of  such 
guard  would  be  grate  to  ye  province 
i  accordingly  Dismissed  those  Forces 
Judging  it  no  ways  for  ye  advantige 
of  ye  government  to  Keep  them 
Longer  then  we  Could  go  up  the 
River  with  lodned  Boates,  the 
above  five  Tripps  was  preformed 
In  Ten  Days  goin  up  one  Day  & 
Coming  Down  the  next,  the  Wether 
being  Dyre  Rested  nott  one  Day 
Except  ye  Sabath,  as  your  Ex- 
cellency was  plesed  to  give  me  ye 
Direction  of  all  those  Forces  and 
least  any  difficulty  Should  arise 
for  want  of  my  presents  I  Continu- 
ed with  them  boath  In  their  goaing 
up  &  Down  ye  River,  ye  first  3  Trips 
we  mad,  our  Number  of  Men  Con- 
sisted of  150  halfe  of  which  was 
Imploy'd  in  ye  Boates  So  that  I 
look  on't  we  ware  but  very  Weake 
as  ye  men  In  ye  Boates  Could  not 
have  been  of  a  mediat  Service,  as 
their  armes  ware  Stowed  in  Such  a 
manner  to  Keep  them  Drye  So  that 
thay  Could  not  be  prepaired  as 
those  on  ye  Land  had  we  ben  at- 
tacted,  ye  Last  Two  Trips  our  Num- 
ber was  Increased  to  about  200 
men  Including  20  men  out  of  Fort 
Halifax  and  6  out  of  Fort  Western 
I  had  Determined  to  move  my  Fam- 
ily to  Fort  Hallifax  but  found  it 
Impossi])Ie  as  there  was  no  Room, 
for  we  have  filled  2  of  ye  Baricks 


with  Stores  and  had  we  Carried  all 
ye  Stores  up  Should  have  filled  ye 
other  2  or  neer  upon  it,  that  ye 
Souldiers  would  have  been  forced 
to  have  Lodged  out  of  Doors  ye 
Boates  which  I  gave  a  pettron 
by  forming  a  piece  of  wood,  to  mr 
Moody  of  Brunswick  answars  ye 
end  very^well,  but^ye  two  Built  in 
Boston  may  be  recalled  as  being  of 
no  advantage  here,  So  that  we  had 
but  3  Botes  In  Steed  of  Six  that 
would  answar,  and  had  we  had  ye 
number  I  prescribed.  Should  have 
Convay'd  ye  whole  of  ye  Stores  as 
Soon  as  what  we  did,  was  obliged 
to  Gitt  Whail  Boates  at  Falmouth 
and  Canooas,  we  had  good  Success 
never  hurt  one  of  our  Boates,  or 
wett  one  mouthfull  of  ye  provisions. 

' '  Your  Excellencys  Most  Duti- 
fuU  Servant 

''William  Lithgow" 

An  order  dated  July  15,  1755  re- 
duced the  joint  garrisons  to  a  total 
number  of  eighty  men,  twenty  of 
whom  were  stationed  at  Fort  West- 
ern. Rumors  of  Indians  lurking 
about  the  frontier  led  to  reinforcing 
the  forts  in  the  fall  of  1756  but  it 
was  not  until  the  following  May 
that  an  Indian  raid  actually  took 
place.  A  letter  from  Lieutenant 
Howard  to  the  Council  related  what 
happened. 

' 'Fort  Western  18th  May  1757 
' '  May  it  please  yr  honours  Capt 
Lithgow  Sent  down  a  boats  Crew 
consisting  of  ten  men  as  far  as 
Brunswick  to  fetch  up  Lieut. 
Moody  in  order  to  mend  our  Boats, 
and  this  morning  about  Seven 
o  Clock  Ensign  Petee  was  returng 
home  and  we  thought  it  best  to 
Send   two   men   })y   Land  as  an 


42 


Mbat  lbappene&  at  jfort  Mestern 


advance  Guard,  and  the  other 
eight  in  the  boat  and  when  they 
were  about  Seven  miles  above  this 
fort  then  the  two  men  on  the 
Shore  who  kept  Just  about  three 
or  four  Rod  before  the  Boat, 
discovered  a  Scout  of  Seventeen 
Indians  Close  on  the  Shore  and 
fired  on  the  Boat  three  times  not 
being  more  than  fifteen  yards  dis- 
tance, and  our  people  returned  the 
fire  three  times  out  of  the  boat  and 
as  they  could  not  recover  the  In- 
dians side  of  the  river  they  put 
across  the  river  recovered  that  shore 
a  fired  Several  Guns,  one  of  the 
men  that  were  on  the  Shore  Lept 
into  the  river  and  Swam  across 
the  river  tho'  the  freshet  is  very  high 
and  the  other  was  Seen  under  a 
Root  and  we  hope  the  enemy  has 
not  found  him  but  he  is  not  re- 
turned yet  it  is  now  about  two 
hours  Since  the  action.  There  is 
two  of  our  men  wounded  but  I 
hope  they  are  not  mortal,  all  our 
people  declare  that  they  saw  the 
Indians  Carry  off  two  dead  or 
wounded  of  their  own  party. 

''I  conclude  with  begging  Leave 
to  Subscribe  myself  yr  Honours  most 
Hble  Serv't. 

''James  Howard" 

Samuel  Goodwin  writing  to  the 
Council  the  same  day  gave  a  similar 
account  of  the  skirmish  and  states 
that  one  man  ' '  hath  a  bullet  Lodged 
in  his  Leage  &  shghtly  wounded  in 
several  places  in  his  body  &  head  ye 
other  in  his  Shoulder  &  Cheake 
Lieutenant  Howard  Came  here  with 
them  about  5  o  Clock  this  afternoon, 
I  having  ye  Remains  of  a  Doctors 
Box  which  I  gott  Last  year  of  my 
own;  I  dressed  them  in  the  best 
Manner  I  could." 


The  men  who  enlisted  or  were  im- 
pressed in  1756  for  the  term  of  one 
year  for  service  in  the  Kennebec 
forts  seem  to  have  been  forgotten  by 
the  Government  in  Boston.  Sup- 
plies were  shipped  to  the  forts  each 
spring  and  fall  but  the  men  were  not 
discharged  and  allowed  to  return  to 
their  homes.  A  letter  from  Lieu- 
tenant Howard  dated  December  10, 
1758  gives  the  names  of  three  men 
stationed  there  who  ''were  Uneasy 
by  Reason  of  their  Being  so  long 
Detained  in  the  Service  at  this 
Fort."  These  men  were  Morris 
Wheeler,  William  Brooks  and  John 
GazHn.  Captain  Lithgow  also  sent 
the  names  of  fifteen  men  serving  at 
Fort  Halifax.  On  Jan.  17,  1759, 
Governor  Pownall  sent  a  message  to 
the  Council  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  presented  the  case 
of  these  forgotten  soldiers.  He 
frankly  stated  that  ''the  Gov- 
ernment had  broke  Faith,"  and 
men  enlisted  for  one  year  had 
been  kept  in  service  for  three 
years  and  were  still  in  the  forts  on 
the  Kennebec.  "If  I  dismiss  them 
the  Garrison  must  be  broke  up  &  dis- 
mantled; if  I  detain  them  we  shall 
continue  within  ourselves  ...  an 
Example  that  this  Government  once 
greviously  complained  of."  As  a 
result,  these  men  at  last  were  dis- 
charged and  other  men  sent  to 
strengthen  the  garrisons. 

In  the  summer  of  1759,  Quebec 
was  attacked  by  General  Wolfe  and 
about  the  same  time  General  Am- 
herst attempted  to  clear  the  French 


43 


/(■//  ^Y;-.  /y^^  /y^r  ^^^Z^ 
^u-v^^,,,  ^^.^    /;^;.^.Cv— •-'■^^ 


Mbat  Happenet)  at  ifort  Meetern 


from  Lake  Champlain  after  which 
the  capture  of  Montreal  was  to  fol- 
low. Desiring  to  inform  General 
Wolfe  of  the  progress  of  his  cam- 
paign, dispatches  were  sent  by  Gen- 
eral Amherst  in  care  of  one  Ensign 
Hutchins  who  traveled  by  way  of 
Albany  and  Boston  and  reached 
Fort  Western  on  the  Kennebec  on 
Aug.  17th,  1759.  The  messenger 
aimed  to  proceed  by  the  most  direct 
route,  the  route  selected  seventeen 
years  later  by  Benedict  Arnold.  It 
was  a  journey  attended  with  great 
hardship  and  beset  with  danger 
from  both  French  and  Indian  en- 
emies. On  arriving  at  Fort  West- 
ern, Ensign  Hutchins  placed  him- 
self in  the  hands  of  the  Howards, 
and  John  Howard,  the  eldest  son  of 
James  Howard  and  second  in  com- 
mand at  the  Fort,  volunteered 
to  accompany  the  dispatch-bearer. 
Here  is  what  happened  during 
their  hazardous  journey  as  told  in 
the  October  8th,  1759  issue  of  the 
Boston  Gazette : — 

'  'Ensign  Hutchins  left  Fort  West- 
ern on  the  Kennebec  River  the  18th 
of  AuR;ust  last,  in  Company  with 
Mr  Howard  and  two  others,  with 
dispatches  for  General  Wolfe,  which 
he  delivered  at  the  Camp  at  Point 
Levee  the  3d  of  September  being 
out  17  Days  and  Nights;  that  they 
saw  several  Scouts  in  their  way  un- 
discovered; that  they  were  so  near 
Chaudiere,  which  he  says  is  a  fine 
settlement,  that  they  saw  and 
heard  the  Enemy  threshing  their 
grain;  that  it  is  a  plentiful  coun- 
try: that  they  took  two  men  and 
a  Woman  about  half  way  from 


Chaudiere  to  St.  Lawrence  River  by 
whom  they  gained  some  intelligence 
as  to  the  situation  of  our  Army; 
that  they  had  no  Provisions  for  4 
Days  before  they  got  in,  and  were 
almost  starved,  being  tired  out  with 
rubbing  thro'  the  Brush,  &c.  which 
tore  their  Clothes  to  pieces,  but  not 
their  Flesh ;  that  had  it  not  been  for 
the  Intelligence  gain'd  by  the  Pri- 
soners above  mentioned ,  whom  they 
afterwards  released,  they  should 
have  delvered  up  themselves  to  the 
first  Party  they  came  across;  .  .  . 
that  they  were  properly  taken  Care 
of  and  well  Cloathed  immediately 
upon  their  Arrival.  That  they  left 
Quebeck  in  Capt.  Haynes  for  this 
Place  the  8th  of  September,  and  was 
taken  the  30th,  off  Black  Point, 
by  a  Privateer  Sloop  of  4  Swivel 
Guns  and  50  Men,  who  were  all 
double  arm'd,  and  who  fired  a  dis- 
charge of  their  Small  Arms  and 
killed  the  man  at  the  Helm;  that 
they  had  an  English  Captain  on 
board,  whom  they  before  had  taken, 
and  whom  they  made  hale  Captain 
Haynes,  otherwise  he  says  they 
should'^have" go t^ clear;  that  they 
however  fired  300  Small  Arms  at 
them  before  they  struck;  that  the 
Enemy  rob'd  the  Men  of  all  they 
had  and  him  of  everything  he  had 
saving  his  Hat,  not  even  sparing 
his  Commission;  but  that  he  threw 
over  Gen.  Wolfe's  Answers  to  Gen. 
Amherst's  Letters  just  before  they 
struck.  Ensis^n  Hutchins  came  to 
Town  last  Thursday  Afternoon, 
and  set  off  the  next  day  for  Gen- 
eral Amherst.  He  left  Mr  Howard 
at  Halifax,  he  being  so  poorly  he 
could  not  come  up." 

Two  years  after  this,  John  How- 
ardVas  one  of  a  party  of  fifteen 
men  commanded  by  his  father,  sent 
out  by  the  Government  to  explore 


45 


fovt  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


and  survey  the  upper  Kennebec  and 
the  ''carrying  place"  leading  to  the 
Chaudiere.  While  in  the  woods 
one  day  John  Howard  saw  what  he 
judged  to  be  a  bear  moving  in  the 
underbrush  and  firing  killed  the 
surveyor  of  the  party.  This  un- 
happy accident  so  effected  Howard 
that  before  long  he  became  insane. 
''He  lived  long  at  the  fort,  gentle 
and  inoffensive,  but  possessed  of  im- 
mense imaginary  wealth."  So 
wrote  Judge  Weston  in  1851.  May 
we  not  also  fancy  that  the  hard- 
ships that  he  suffered  in  1759  while 
guiding  General  Amherst's  dispatch- 
bearer,  in  some  degree  contributed 
to  his  unhappy  state.  A  Boston 
newspaper  of  the  time  suppHes  this 
contemporaneous  account  of  what 
took  place  on  the  unfortunate  sur- 
veying expedition: — 

"About  a  Fortnight  ago  a  mel- 
ancholy Affair  happened  at  the 
Eastward  : — Mr  Small,  an  ingenious 
&  improv'd  Surveyor,  being  em- 
ployed by  the  Government  to  re- 
connoitre and  explore  that  Part 
of  the  Country  which  lies  between 
Fort  Hahfax  on  Kennebec  River, 
and  the  River  Chaud re,  and  so  on 
to  Quebec;  he  was  attended  by  Capt. 
Howard,  and  a  party  of  9  Men,  and 
had  set  out  from  the  Fort  upon  that 
Business ;  but  when  they  had  got  a- 
bout  120  Miles  Distance,  one  Day  a- 
bout  Twelve  o'Clock,  Mr  Small  be- 
ing within  some  Bushes  taking  an 
Observation,  one  of  the  Men  per- 
ceived a  rustling  and  something 
move  apprehended  it  to  be  some 
wild  Beast,  unhappily  fired  and 
shot  him  dead 'upon  the  spot. ' ' 
Boston  Gazette,  Oct.  19,  1761. 


At  the  time  Fort  Western  was 
built  not  a  settler  was  living  farther 
up  the  river  than  Fort  Richmond. 
The  settlement  at  Gardiner  began  in 
1760  and  grants  were  first  made  to 
settlers  at  Cushnoc  in  1762.  Rev. 
Jacob  Bailey,  "the  Frontier  Mis- 
sionary," records  in  his  journals  that 
many  of  ''the  first  settlers  lived 
in  miserable  huts  half  of  which  were 
without  chimneys  and  many  people 
were  without  beds  other  than  a 
heap  of  straw."  One  Nathan  Win- 
slow  made  the  Cushnoc  survey  for 
the  Kennebec  Company  and  by 
1764  thirty-seven  lots  had  been  con- 
veyed to  settlers  who  occupied  them. 

James  Howard  was  the  largest 
landowner  at  that  time  as  was  befit- 
ting the  most  influential  man  in  the 
little  frontier  settlement.  He  re- 
ceived grants  in  1763,  1764,  and 
1769  which  totalled  800  acres  and 
he  also  owned  1280  acres  in  the 
fourth  range  of  lots  lying  easterly 
and  away  from  the  river.  William 
Howard,  his  son,  also  was  granted 
550  acres  in  favored  locations.  The 
Howards  were  then  living  at  the 
Fort  which  probably  was  somewhat 
remodelled  about  that  time.  When 
first  built  it  was  fitted  up  with  of- 
ficer's quarters  at  each  end  with  a 
large  space  left  for  storage  in  the 
center  of  the  building.  This  cen- 
tral space  afterwards  became  the 
"trucking  house"  and  store  con- 
ducted by  the  Howards.  There 
was  a  cellar  under  the  building  and 
the  lower  course  of  logs  composing 
the  walls  rested  on  a  stone  foun- 


46 


Mbat  Ibappenet)  at  ffort  Meetern 


dation .  These  logs  were  squared  and 
dove-tailed  at  the  corners  of  the 
building.  The  log  walls  seem  to 
have  been  covered  at  once  with 
shingles  laid  with  an  exposure  of 
eight  inches  to  the  weather,  for  the 
hewn  surfaces  of  the  logs  when  un- 
covered today,  show  no  evidence  of 
exposure  to  the  weather.  It  is 
quite  plain  from  this  that  the  Ken- 
nebec Company  built  in  a  more  sub- 
stantial manner  than  did  the  Pro- 
vince when  it  spent  lari2;e  sums  in 
the  erection  of  Fort  Halifax.  In  a 
letter  to  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
dated  October  17,  1755,  Samuel 
Goodwin,  one  of  the  proprietors, 
writes  that  the  logs  used  to  erect  the 
large  building  at  Fort  Halifax,  were 
hewn  so  that  ' '  the  uper  Side  of  the 
under  peace  is  hewed  Hollow  to 
bring  them  to  a  Joynt  and  in  Driv- 
ing stormes  the  Rane  Drives  into 
the  Joynts  and  there  stands  and  be- 
ing hid  from  the  Sun  Continaues 
wett  for  a  long  time;  and  rotts  the 
Timber  very  much  which  is  a  Great 
Damage  to  such  buildings  .  .  . 
which  aught  to  be  Covered  amed- 
iately  Either  with  fether  Eadge 
Boord  so  as  to  Break  Joynts  or  Else 
claboorde."  Goodwin  inclosed  a 
memorandum  estimating  the  cost  of 
putting  the  garrison  building  in  pro- 
per repair  for  the  sum  of  £550.  It 
provided  for  10,000  clapboards  ''to 
be  Large  6  inches  wide,"  at  £22. 
per  thousand.  The  cost  of  laying 
the  clapboards  was  estimated  at 
£15.  per  thousand.  ''To  making 
46  window  Caps  &  Casing  the  Same 


lS)ovc^ta\lct>  %0QS  at  a  dorner 
of  3fort  mcBtcvn 

to  Receive  the  ends  of  the  Clap- 
boards. To  Casing  32  ports  & 
Lookouts  &  10  doors  and 
making  all  weather  boards  Corner 
boards  and  water  Tables  and  Cas- 
ing 160  feet  of  a  Jet,  £180."  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  de- 


47 


panelling  in  a  fivst  floov  IRoom  at  ffort  XlXIlestern 
Before  IRestoration 


preciation  in  the  value  of  money  at 
that  time  is  accountable  for  the 
se(uningly  high  costs  shown  in  the 
estimate. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  at  this 
late  day  if  the  wood  trim  and  pan- 
el led-work  in  the  rooms  at  either  end 
of  Fort  Western  were  placed  there 
when  the  building  was  erected. 
Simil'tr  work  was  common  at  that 
time  throughout  the  Province  and 
anticipating  the  occupancy  of  the 
Fort  by  the  family  of  the  officer 
in  command  it  is  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose  that   the   officers'  quarters 


would  be  made  comfortable  in  the 
manner  of  the  time  and  also  be  fin- 
ished in  the  architectural  style  of 
the  period,  the  work  being  done 
by  carpenters  who  had  been  brought 
from  Boston  and  vicinity.  Certain 
it  is  that  the  prosperous  Captain 
Howard,  when  he  came  into 
possession  of  the  property  in  1769. 
would  have  .  replaced  any  rough 
sheathing  with  the  present  trim. 
In  the  center  of  the  Fort  are  some 
early  partitions  made  of  pine 
planks  two  inches  thick,  butted 
at     the    joints    and  unplaned. 


48 


©nginal:^Stair0  ant)  Sbeatbeb  partition  in  tbe 
Soutbern  lEntrp  at  jfovt  Western 


Most  of  the  early  inch  sheathing 
is  molded  at  the  joints  with  a 
three-eighths  inch  bead  and  one 
short  partition  remains,  in  the 
center  of  the  Fort,  built  of  inch 
boards  with  the  long  bevelled  and 
molded  edge  of  the  early  period 
and  there  are  two  batten  doors  made 
of  this  sheathing.  The  oldest  doors 
in  the  officers'  quarters  are  of  two 
panels  with  a  wide  bevelled  mold- 
ing and  are  hung  on  H  and  HL  or 
strong  ''butterfly"  hinges.  The 
staircase  at  the  southerly  end  of  the 
building  is  undoubtedly  contem- 


poraneous with  the  erection  of  the 
Fort.  The  newel  posts  are  about 
four  inches  square  and  the  treads 
are  of  two  inch  plank.  The  stair- 
case at  the  northerly  end  is  of  a  later 
date — perhaps  about  the  year  1800. 

There  are  four  chimneys.  The 
two  at  either  end  rest  on  stone 
foundations  built  up  to  the  level  of 
the  sills.  The  two  intermediate 
chimneys  rest  on  barrel-arches 
built  of  brick  in  the  usual 
manner.  The  brickwork  is  laid 
with  clay  mortar  with  some  fine 
sand  in  its  composition.  The  bricks 


49 


fort  XKIlestern  on  tbe  iRennebec 


are  of  common  size,  of  good  molding 
and  fired  to  a  good  red  color. 
Brick  tiles  were  used  in  most  of  the 
hearths  and  the  fireplaces  have  flat 
iron  lintel  bars.  The  fireplaces 
in  the  end  chimneys  (two  on  each 
floor)  are  small  in  size.  The  rear 
first  floor  fireplaces,  in  the  inter- 
mediate chimneys,  are  large  kitchen 
fireplaces  and  the  older  of  the  two  is 
seven  feet  wide  and  forty-nine  in- 
ches high  at  the  opening.  The 
other  is  five  feet  wide  and  forty- 
four  inches  high.  Both  have  chim- 
ney-breast brick  ovens  the  smaller 
fireplace  having  a  very  large  oven 
which  has  been  rebuilt  at  a  later 
date  and  suppHed  with  an  oven  door. 
Both  of  these  kitchen  fireplaces 
were  equipped  with  cranes.  A 
small  "ash  door"  is  on  the  left-hand 
side  of  the  smaller  kitchen  fireplace 
and  inside  the  same  which  probably 
indicates  an  earlier  brick  oven 
built  inside  the  fireplace  in  the  old 
manner.  The  appearance  of  the 
brickwork  over  the  "ash  door'' 
seems  to  indicate  filling  in  or  re- 
building where  the  opening  for  this 
early  oven  may  have  been. 

The  walls  and  ceilings  of  the  of- 
ficers' quarters  are  plastered  and  al- 
so the  rear  kitchens.  The  Hme  is 
well  calcined  though  parts  of  it  con- 
tain small  fragments  of  shells.  The 
laths  are  rifted  and  on  the  outer 
walls  are  nailed  directly  to  the 
squared  logs. 

Early  descriptions  of  Fort  West- 
ern record  that  the  window  open- 
ings were  supplied  with  plank  shut- 


ters and  this  was  shown  to  be  true 
by  the  discovery  of  holes  in  the  log 
walls  beside  the  first  story  windows 
into  which  the  iron  gudgeons  were 
driven  on  which  the  shutter  hinges 
swung.  No  gudgeon  holes  were 
found  beside  the  second  story  win- 
dows. 

While  exploring  the  building  and 
removing  some  of  the  later  work  an 
interesting  discovery  was  made  of 
the  original  door  opening  into  the 
"trading  post"  in  the  central  part 
of  the  Fort.  The  opening  had  been 
cut  through  the  wall  of  squared  logs 
and  closed  by  a  batten  door  of  pine 
planks  four  inches  thick.  The  re- 
stored door  measures  eighty  inches 
high  and  forty-nine  inches  wide. 
Several  of  the  original  planks  used 
in  making  the  door  had  been  uti- 
lized to  fill  up  the  opening  when 
this  door  was  discontinued  and  the 
outside  was  then  shingled  over.  At 
the  same  time  the  inside  wall  was 
sheathed  up  thereby  concealing  all 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  this 
early  door.  These  planks,  now  in- 
corporated in  the  restored  door,  were 
originally  painted  Indian  red  as  was 
the  simple  outside  trim  as  shown 
by  daubings  of  red  here  and  there  on 
the  logs.  This  massive  door  was 
strongly  nailed  together  but  the 
surfaces  of  the  planks  supplied  the 
evidence  that  it  never  was  studded 
with  large-headed  nails  in  the  17th 
century  fashion.  Moreover,  this 
door  never  was  supplied  with  a 
latch.  The  peculiar  location  of 
nail  holes  and  the  wearing  away  of 


50 


II:ra^^nG  post  tRoom  in  fovt  Mestern 
During  IRestoration 


the  surface  of  the  wood  in  a  curved 
Hne  disclosed  the  former  existence 
of  a  ring  that  was  used  to  pull  the 
door  open  from  the  outside.  A 
plank,  formerly  on  the  inside  of  the 
door,  was  cut  out  to  receive  an  old- 
fashioned  wooden  box-lock  and  the 
jamb  of  the  door  had  a  mortice, 
guarded  by  a  small  plate  of  iron  to 
strengthen  and  prevent  wear  on  the 
edge  of  the  mortice,  into  which  the 
bolt  of  the  lock  slipped  as  the  large 
key  was  turned. 

In  1730  there  was  built  at  Saco 
River,  by  order  of  the  Province,  a 
''Truck-House"  or  trading  post  and 
the  Massachusetts  Archives  pre- 
serve details  of  its  construction  by 


which  some  interesting  comparisons 
may  be  made  with^the  somewhat 
similar  building  erected  at  Cushnoc 
twenty-five  years  later.  The 
"Truck-House"  was  built  of  timber 
and  surrounded  by  a  palisade  with 
"flankers"  at  the  corners.  It  was 
supplied  with  brick  chimneys  and 
the  brick  was  made  on  the  spot  at  a 
cost  of  seven  shillings  per  day  for 
labor.  The  building  was  shingled 
and  the  windows  were  supplied 
with  casement  sash.  The  fashion 
of  casement  sash  was  then  going  out 
and  twenty-five  years  later  the  win- 
dows in  the  Fort  at  Cushnoc  had 
shding  sash  and  rectangular  lights 
of  glass  instead  of  the  diamond 


51 


3fort  Meatern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


panes  used  in  the  casements.  In 
one  of  the  bills  against  the 
Province,  at  the  time  the 
Saco  ''Truck-House"  was  built, 
appears  the  following  item:  ''1 
gall  Linseed  Oyle,  10  of  ground 
priming  &  10  red  Led  £1: 17:  4." 

Capt.  James  Howard  and  his  fam- 
ily were  long  looked  up  to  as  the 
leading  and  most  influential  set- 
tlers on  the  upper  Kennebec.  As 
early  as  1764  it  was  said  that 
they  owned  ''two  Sloops  about 
eighty  tons  each,  and  have 
two  saw  mills  which  employ- 
ed at  least  twenty  hands  and 
have  besides  a  large  stock  of  Cat- 
tle, and  carry  on  a  considerable 
Trade."  Before  long  they  practi- 
cally monopohzed  the  timber  trade 
on  the  upper  Kennebec  and  had  the 
confidence  of  every  one.  Their 
will  was  law.  The  historian  of  Au- 
gusta preserves  the  following  signi- 
ficant incident.  "A  rumor  was 
afloat  that  a  strange  vessel  was  com- 
ing up  the  river  to  trade.  This  was 
regarded  as  interfering  with  the 
rights  which  the  Howards  had  ac- 
quired by  early  and  exclusive  occu- 
pation, and  the  question  was  earn- 
estly asked,  'Will  the  Howards  let 
them  come?'  " 

After  obtaining  in  1763  large 
grants  of  land  at  Cushnoc,  Captain 
Howard  built  a  "Great  House"  on 
a  location  about  a  mile  up  the  river 
from  the  Fort  and  there  he  lived 
until  his  death  in  1787.  It  was  the 
first  framed  house  in  the  settlement 
and  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1866. 


On  the  16th  of  December,  1769,  the 
Proprietors  of  the  Kennebec  Pur- 
chase sold  to  Captain  Howard, 
Fort  Western  and  about  nine  hun- 
dred acres  of  surrounding  land. 
The  consideration  was  only  £270. 
lawful  money.  In  1781,  he  con- 
veyed the  northern  half  to  his 
four  children  and  his  son  William 
lived  there  until  his  death  in  1810. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  settle- 
ment all  public  meetings  were  held 
at  the  Fort,  and  even  after  Hallo  well 
was  incorporated  town  meetings 
were  generally  held  at  Fort  West- 
ern until  the  meeting  house  was 
built  in  1782.  The  first  pubhc  re- 
ligious service  in  Cushnoc  was  held 
at  the  Fort,  in  1763,  by  Rev.  Jacob 
Bailey,  the  "Frontier  Missionary", 
who  recorded  in  his  diary  that  he 
had  on  that  occasion  "a  consider- 
able congregation  of  the  upper  set- 
tlers." He  afterwards  preached  at 
the  Fort  at  frequent  intervals. 
The  first  marriage  at  Cushnoc  was 
solemnized  at  the  Fort  in  1763, when 
Margaret  Howard  was  married  by 
her  father  who,  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  was  the  only  person  in  the 
settlement  qualified  to  perform  the 
ceremony.  Her  husband  was  Capt. 
James  Patterson. 

Capt.  Samuel  Howard  and  his 
brother  Colonel  William  Howard, 
sons  of  Capt.  James,  formed  a  part- 
nership under  the  firm  name  of  S. 
&  W.  Howard  and  for  many  years 
engaged  in  trade  and  shipping. 
William  lived  at  the  Fort  and  man- 
aged the  business,  selling  the  goods 


52 


r^^/^  £/ffi^^  ^i^*^ ^;f/d>^  ^/tjC^L.  ' 


Ifort  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


which  Samuel  purchased  in  Boston 
and  elsewhere  and  shipped  to  Cush- 
noc  in  the  vessels  owned  by  the  bro- 
thers. This  firm  supplied  an  outlet 
for  the  small  settlement  on  the  Ken- 
nebec and  brought  the  necessities  of 
civilization  to  the  growing  popula- 
tion. The  sloops  of  the  Howards 
would  carry  to  Boston  cargoes  com- 
posed of  staves,  shingles,  salmon, 
moose  skins  and  furs  and  return 
loaded  with  pork,  corn,  flour,  shoes, 
articles  of  clothing,  West  India 
goods  and  a  liberal  supply  of  rum 
which  was  freely  used  by  all  in  those 
days.  Furs  were  an  item  of  consid- 
erable value  and  embraced  ship- 
ments of  sable,  beaver,  otter,  fox, 
mink  and  other  skins.  The  sloops 
also  went  on  voyages  to  Newfound- 
land and  the  West  Indies. 

The  Revolution  brought  Fort 
Western  again  into  prominence.  In 
the  summer  of  1775,  Colonel  Bene- 
dict Arnold  conceived  the  plan  of 
capturing  Quebec  by  means  of  an 
army  sent  through  the  woods  of 
Maine  by  way  of  the  Kennebec  and 
Chaudiere  rivers  route  that  had 
been  surveyed  in  1760  by  Lieut. 
John  Montresor.  It  is  said  the 
Montresor's  journal  fell  into  Ar- 
nold's hands  and  suggested  to  him 
the  feasability  of  this  route  through 
the  Maine  wilderness.  At  any  rate, 
Washington  was  sufficiently  im- 
pressed by  the  possibilities  of  Col- 
onel Arnold's  plan  to  permit  him  to 
organize  and  command  the  expedi- 
tion of  1  100  nwn  which  sailed  from 
Nevvl)uryj)()rt   on   Sept.   H),  1775, 


bound  for  Fort  Western  and  the  con- 
quest of  Canada.  In  view  of  the 
misfortunes  that  befell  the  expedi- 
tion, through  misinformation  and 
accident,  it  is  plain  that  it  was  con- 
ceived upon  insufficient  knowledge 
of  the  difficulties  of  the  route  and 
also  was  lacking  in  proper  equipment. 
To  be  sure,  two  scouts,  Dennis 
Getchell  and  Samuel  Berry,  had 
been  sent  out  beforehand  by  Gener- 
al Washington  to  ascertain  what  ob- 
stacles the  intended  expedition 
would  be  likely  to  meet  on  the  way 
to  Quebec.  Another  report  on  the 
route  might  have  been  of  much 
value  to  General  Washington,  had 
he  but  known  of  its  existence,  for 
some  fifteen  years  before,  Governor 
Pownall  had  written  that  he  had 
had  the  Kennebec-Chaudiere  route 
''particularly  investigated  by  En- 
sign Howard,  a  Country  Surveyor," 
who  found  it  to  be '^impracticable  to 
an  Army  that  hath  a  Train  of  Artil- 
lery and  heavy  Baggage"  but  avail- 
able for  a  scouting  party  or  body  of 
men  lightly  armed. 

Arnold's  fleet  of  transports  reach- 
ed the  Kennebec  safely  and  on 
Sept.  21,  1775,  he  left  his  flag  ship,  a 
schooner  named  the  ''Broad  Bay", 
and  was  rowed  up  the  river  to  Gar- 
dinerstown  where  he  spent  the  next 
two  days  in  hastening  the  move- 
ments of  his  men  and  supplies  to 
Fort  Western.  Meanwhile  a  fleet 
of  bateaux  had  been  built  at  Gard- 
inerstown  under  the  direction  of 
Major  Colburn  and  nuich  of  the  ill 
succ(^ss  of  the  expedition  was  due  to 


54 


General  BeneMct  Hrnolb 

AFTER  A  DRAWING  FROM  LIFE  BY  DU  SIMITIERE 


Ifort  Meetern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


the  faulty  work  and  material  in 
their  construction.  The  exact  pro- 
portions of  these  bateaux  are  not 
known  at  the  present  day  but  they 
were  made  of  green  pine  boards 
which  made  them  heavy  and  diffi- 
cult to  handle  and  soon  many  of 
them  developed  serious  leaks  so  that 
they  were  abandoned.  Even  the 
canoe  in  which  Colonel  Arnold  set 
out  from  Fort  Western  soon  proved 
leaky  and  he  changed  for  another  at 
Vassalborough.  The  present  Ken- 
nebec river  type  of  flat-bottomed 
boat  is  high  and  sharp  at  both  ends, 
is  easily  managed  and  difficult  to 
overturn.  Within  the  memory  of 
old  river  men  it  has  remained  always 
the  same  type  but  probably  some 
development  has  taken  place  since 
1775. 

On  September  25th,  Arnold  dis- 
patched from  Fort  Western,  Cap- 
tain Morgan  and  three  companies 
of  riflemen  as  an  advance  party  and 
after  that  the  troops  departed  rapid- 
ly until  three  days  later  when  the 
last  division  embarked  on  its  un- 
comfortable journey.  Numerous 
diaries  were  kept  by  both  officers 
and  men  during  this  expedition 
many  of  them  little  more  than  line- 
a-day  jottings  of  events.  Few  re- 
corded extended  personal  observa- 
tions or  commented  at  length  on  the 
country  and  the  people  they  met. 
One  of  the  ])est  of  these  diaries  is 
that  kept  by  Doctor  Isaac  Senter,  a 
surgeon  from  Pennsylvania,  which 
was  published  in  1840.  The  items 
covering  the  period  following  his 


arrival  in  the  river  until  he  reached 
Vassalborough  are  here  given: — 

''Saturday,  Sept  23.  Wind  being 
unfavorable  we  were  not  able  to 
arrive  at  Fort  Western  last  evening. 
This  morn  I  quitted  the  Broad  Bay 
[Arnold's  flag  ship]  and  proceeded 
up  the  river  by  land,  the  distance 
being  only  five  miles  to  Fort  W estern 
though  most  of  the  way  was  desti- 
tute of  any  road.  Arrived  at  Fort 
Western  at  10  o  clock  in  the  morning. 
We  now  came  to  a  rapid  in  the  river 
beyond  which  our  transports  could 
not  pass,  nor  could  they  get  up  as 
far  as  this.  Most  of  them  were  left 
at  Gardiner's  Town,  where  the  bat- 
teaux  were  built,  and  the  troops 
disembarked  from  them  into  the 
batteaux  except  those  who  were 
obliged  to  take  land  carriage.  The 
batteaux  were  made  of  green  pine 
boards  which  made  them  somewhat 
heavy.  Headquarters  were  at  Esq. 
Howard's,  an  exceedingly^  hospit- 
able, opulent,  polite  family. 

"Sunday,  Sept.  24.  Early  this 
morning  was  called  to  attend  a 
wounded  soldier,  who  was  shot 
through  the  body  last  night  by  a 
mahcious  drunken  fellow  belonging 
to  the  army.  The  hemorrhage  was 
great  inwardly,  which  soon  occasion- 
ed his  death. 

''Sept.  25.  This  morning  search 
being  made  for  the  fellow  who  was 
imagined  to  be  the  murderer  ~  found 
and  condemed  by  a  court  martial  to 
hang  .  .  . 

"Tuesday  26.  This  morning  at 
ten  left  Fort  Western  in  company 
with  Lieut-Col.  Greene.  Mr  Burr 
and  several  other  gentlemen  in- 
trusted to  my  care.  Lodged  within 
five  miles  of  Fort  Halifax  at  Mr 
Hobby's. 

"Wednesday  27.  Quit  our  lodg- 
ings at  10  in  the  morn  and  arrived 


56 


Mbat  Happene6  at  ]fort  Meetern 


at  Fort  Halifax  at  12.  Some  few  in- 
habitants, though  not  many,  are 
settled  round  this  place.  Was  in- 
vited by  Mr  Howard,  an  inhabitant 
who  lived  up  a  small  river  which 
emptied  into  the  Kennebec,  close  to 
the  fort,  and  went  up  the  little  river 
called  Sabasticuck,  distance  from 
the  fort  four  miles. 

''Thursday  28.  This  morning  I 
returned  to  the  fort  from  my  lodg- 
ings up  the  little  river,  but  finding 
the  rear  of  the  army  not  yet  arrived 
I  betook  myself  to  my  last  nights 
lodgings  where  I  fared  exceeding- 
ly well. 

'  'Friday  29.  During  all  this  time 
the  batteaux  were  coming  up  and 
going  over  the  falls.  The  rapid 
water  is  a  distance  of  about  half  a 
mile,  past  which  everything  was 
carried  by  hand.  By  this  time 
several  of  our  batteaux  began  to 
leak  profusely,  made  of  green  wood 
and  that  in  the  most  slight  manner. 

"Saturday  30.  Ere  this  my  bat- 
teau  had  arrived  at  the  fort  in  such 
a  shattered  condition  that  I  was  ob- 
liged to  purchase  another,  or  not 
proceed  by  water  without  destroy- 
ing my  medicines,  stores,  etc.  I 
purchased  a  more  portable  well 
built  one,  seasoned,  etc.  for  which 
I  gave  four  dollars  .  .  .  and  engaged 
Mr  Howard's  team,  put  my  bark, 
freight,  etc.  on  board  his  cart  and 
carried  it  from  his  house  over  across 
the  land  to  Kennebec." 

Doctor  Senter  camped  seven  miles 
above  Fort  Halifax  where  he  re- 
mained until  Oct.  3d  when  he  re- 
ceived a  call  to  go  and  visit  a  sick 
soldier  whom  he  found  ' '  at  one  Mr 
Howard's,  where  were  numbers  of 
the  army,"  three  miles  below  the 
falls  called  Wassarumskeig. 


The  incident  of  the  murder  of  the 
soldier  is  mentioned  in  every  diary 
and  must  have  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  the  men 
about  to  venture  into  the  almost 
pathless  wilderness.  Some  of  the 
soldiers  had  been  quartered  at  the 
house  of  Daniel  Savage,  below  Es- 
quire Howard's  "Great  House", 
when  one  of  them,  James  McCor- 
mick,  who  was  intoxicated  and 
quarrelsome,  was  turned  out  of  the 
house  but  soon  returned  and  dis- 
charged his  gun  at  random  and  shot 
a  soldier,  Reuben  Bishop.  McCor- 
mick  was  tried  by  court  martial  and 
condemned  to  be  hanged  but  Colonel 
Arnold  respited  the  sentence  and 
sent  the  man  to  Boston  to  await 
Washington's  pleasure,  at  the  time 
expressing  the  hope  ''that  he  may 
be  found  a  proper  object  of  mercy." 

McCormick  died  in  jail  at  Cam- 
bridge while  awaiting  disposition  of 
his  case.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
"very  simple  and  ignorant."  The 
soldier  who  was  murdered  was 
buried  just  outside  the  Fort  bury- 
ing ground  near  the  east  end  of  the 
present  Kennebec  bridge.  Years 
afterwards  the  remains  were  ex- 
humed and  reburied  in  the  Fort 
burying  ground.  Willow  street  now 
passes  over  the  site  of  his  grave. 
Capt.  Simeon  Thayer  of  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.  in  his  journal  of  the  ex- 
pedition gives  this  account  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  murder : — 

"Sept.  23.  Proceeded  to  Fort 
Western.  This  place  was  formerly 
pretty  strong;  was  built  against  the 


57 


]fort  Meatern  on  tbe  Ikennebec 


French  and  Indians,  but  at  present 
of  no  great  consequence.  It  has  two 
large  and  two  small  block  houses. 

''Sept  24.  Occupied  in  getting 
our  men  and  provisions  up  from 
Gardiner's  Town.  After  Capt. 
Topham  [of  Newport,  R.  L]  and 
myself  went  to  bed  in  a  neighbor's 
house,  some  dispute  arose  in  the 
house  between  some  of  our  soldiers 
on  which  we  were  requested  to  get 
up  and  appease  them.  I  got  out  of 
Bed,  and  ordered  them  to  he  down 
and  be  at  rest;  and  on  going  to  the 
door,  I  observed  the  flash  of  the 
priming  of  a  gun  and  called  to  Capt. 
Topham  who  arose  likewise  and 
went  to  the  door,  was  fired  at,  but 
was  miss'd,  on  which  he  drew  back 
and  I  with  Topham  went  to  bed,  but 
the  fellow  who  had  fully  determined 
murder  in  his  heart,  came  again  to 
the  door  and  lifted  the  latch,  and 
fired  into  the  room,  and  killed 
a  man  lying  by  the  fireside." 

Caleb  Haskell  records  in  his  diary 
that  on  the  26th  ''a  gallows  was 
erected,  the  murderer  brought  out 
and  sat  upon  it  about  half  an  hour, 
then  was  taken  down  to  be  sent  back 
to  Cambridge  to  have  another  trial. 
One  man  whipped  and  drummed  out 
for  stealing."  Another  account 
states  that  the  murderer  was  con- 
ducted ''with  a  Halter  about  his 
neck,  and  placed  on  the  stage  under 
the  gallows."  The  account  written 
by  Abner  Stocking,  a  soldier  from 
Chatham,  Conn.,  is  more  circum- 
stantial : — 

"While  remaining  at  this  place 
I  was  called  to  witness  a  scene  which 
to  me  was  awful  and  very  affecting, 
the  more  so  I  presume,  as  it  was  the 
first  of  the  kind  I  ever  belu^ld.  A 


civil,  well  behaved  and  much  be- 
loved young  man,  belonging  to 
Captain  William's  Company,  was 
shot.  He  lived  about  twelve  hours, 
and  died  in  great  horror  and  agony 
of  mind  at  the  thought  of  going  into 
eternity  and  appearing  before  his 
God  and  Judge.  He  was  from  the 
north  parish  of  New  Londonfand 
had  a  wife  and  four  children. 

"The  supposed  murderer  was 
James  McCormick.  The  circum- 
stances of  his  being  out  aU  night, 
and  his  guilty  looks  and  actions 
were  pretty  convincing  proof  against 
him.  He  was  tryed  by  a  court  mar- 
tial and  sentenced  to  be  hanged  un- 
til dead,  his  gallows  erected  and  all 
things  prepared  for  his  execution. 
...  He  would  not  confess  himself 
guilty  of  intentionally  murdering 
the  young  man;  but  that  he  intend- 
ed to  have  killed  his  Captain  with 
whom  he  had  the  night  before  a 
violent  quarrel.  He  was  brought  to 
the  gallows,  a  prayer  made,  and 
the  time  for  his  execution  al- 
most arrived,  when  Colonel  Arnold 
thought  best  to  reprieve  him  and 
send  him  to  General  Washington." 

Colonel  Arnold  and  some  of  the 
officers  were  entertained  by  Esquire 
Howard  at  the  "Great  House"  and 
other  officers  were  lodged  at  the 
Fort  where  they  were  ' '  exceedingly 
well  entertained,"  as  Major  Return 
Jonathan  Meigs  recorded  in  his 
journal.  Some  of  the  soldiers  found 
shelter  in  the  few  available  houses 
but  the  larger  number  of  the  men 
made  for  themselves  rude  shelters 
or  camped  on  the  ground.  Ephraim 
Squier,  a  Connecticut  soldier,  wrote 
that  on  the  22nd  he  spent  the 
night  at  Nan  Cross',  a  private  house 


58 


Mbat  Ibappenet)  at  ifort  Meetern 


about  seven  miles  below  Fort  West- 
ern. The  next  day  he  reached  the 
Fort  and  ''there  made  us  a  Board 
Camp,  wood  cut  very  handy." 
Caleb  Haskell  wrote  that  ''we  en- 
camped on  the  ground,  several  of  the 
companies  have  no  tents  here.  We 
are  very  uncomfortable,  it  being 
very  rainy  and  cold  and  nothing  to 
cover  us."  Captain  Henry  Dear- 
born in  his  diary  makes  mention  of 
the  Fort  which  he  describes  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Sept  24th.  We  lay  at  Fort 
Western  preparing  for  our  march. 
Fort  Western  stands  on  the  East 
side  of  the  River  and  consists  of 
two  Block  Houses  and  a  Large 
House  100  Feet  Long  which  are 
Inclos'd  only  with  Picquets.  This 
House  is  now  the  property  of  one 
Howard  Esqr  where  we  were  well 
entertained." 

Accompanying  Colonel  Arnold's 
expedition  were  a  number  of  gentle- 
men volunteers,  all  young  men,  one 
of  whom,  Aaron  Burr,  afterwards 
became  Vice-President  of  the  Unit- 
ed States.  He  was  the  son  of  Rev. 
Aaron  Burr,  President  of  the  Col- 
lege at  Princeton,  N.  J.  and  grand- 
son of  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  the 
greatest  of  the  American  theolo- 
gians, who  also  became  President  of 
Princeton  College.  Young  Burr 
possessed  the  keen  intellect  of  his 
ancestral  Hne  but  completely  lacked 
its  austere  morality.  He  was  small 
in  person  but  was  endowed  with  a 
fascination  of  manner  and  a  seduc- 
tiveness of  speech  that  through  life 
made  him  well-nigh  irresistible  with 


women.  When  he  reached  the  Ken- 
nebec he  was  nineteen  years  old  and 
his  first  landing  was  at  Swan  Island 
where  he  met  an  Indian  girl,  Jaca- 
taqua,  who  was  descended  from  the 
sachems  of  an  Abenaki  tribe  long 
located  on  the  river.  She  also  had 
a  French  ancestor  and  professed  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith.  Attracted 
by  Burr  she  followed  him  to  Fort 
Western,  where  she  was  well  known, 
and  then  attached  herself  to  the  ex- 
pedition and  during  the  long  journey 
through  the  woods  was  of  the  great- 
est assistance  in  hunting  game  and 
supplying  to  the  sick  soldiers  simple 
Indian  remedies.  Tradition  pre- 
serves the  story  that  through  Burr's 
chance  acquaintance  with  a  British 
officer  the  Indian  girl  at  last  was 
sheltered  at  a  convent  in  Quebec 
where  she  gave  birth  to  a  daughter — 
Burr's  child.  Jacataqua  afterwards 
found  her  way  to  New  York  and  at 
last  drowned  herself  at  Hell  Gate  in 
the  North  River. 

In  1779,  Fort  Western  was  sud- 
denly visited  by  survivors  from  the 
ill-managed  expedition  sent  out  by 
Massachusetts  to  dislodge  a  British 
force  at  Castine.  Paul  Revere  was 
in  command  of  the  artillery  at- 
tached to  the  expedition  and  with 
other  officers  and  stragglers  was  en- 
tertained at  the  Fort  while  on  the 
way  back  to  Boston. 

Aside  from  these  two  visitations 
the  Fort  saw  little  of  the  activities 
of  the  Revolution.  Capt.  James 
Howard  was  the  head  of  the  local 
Committee  of  Safety  chosen  in  the 


59 


Mbat  1bappene^  at  jfort  Meetern 


spring  ot  1775  and  his  sons  Samuel 
and  William  both  saw  active  ser- 
vice during  the  war  and  their  de- 
scendants continued  to  hve  in  the 
old  Fort  until  it  passed  out  of  the 
family  name  and  was  divided  up  and 
occupied  as  a  tenement  house.  Sur- 
rounded by  a  number  of  other  de- 
crepit buildings  in  time  it  became 
neglected  and  not  only  was  it  a  re- 
fuge for  the  illegal  sale  of  liquor  but 
a  fire  risk  and  an  unsavory  menace 
to  the  city. 

In  1919,  Mr.  Guy  P.  Gannett 
of  Augusta,  a  descendant  of  the 
Howards,  determined  to  rescue  the 
historic  Fort  from  destruction  and 
after  restoration  to  present  it  to  the 
city  of  Augusta  as  a  memorial  to  his 
mother,  Mrs.  Sadie  Hill  Gannett. 
After  some  litigation  this  was  ef- 
fected late  in  1921  when  the  Fort 
and  surrounding  land  was  acquired 
by  right  of  eminent  domain,  the  land 


damages  and  legal  costs  having  been 
assumed  by  Mr  Gannett.  The 
building  has  since  been  restored  a- 
long  lines  showing  its  occupancy  at 
different  periods;  reproductions  of 
the  old-time  block  houses  have  been 
erected  and  the  whole  surrounded 
by  a  palisade  suggesting  the  early 
defence  against  Indian  attack. 
This  work  was  done  under  the  di- 
rection of  Mr.  William  Howard 
Gannett,  the  father  of  Mr.  Guy  P. 
Gannett,  who  spared  no  pains  or 
expense  in  securing  a  restoration 
correct  in  all  possible  details  and 
who  also  searched  far  and  near  for 
the  interesting  and  valuable  collec- 
tion of  relics  and  historical  furnish- 
ings that  is  accumulating  in  the 
Fort  to  visualize  to  the  present  and 
coming  generations  the  home  life 
and  occupations  of  the  hardy  set- 
tlers in  the  valley  of  the  Kennebec 


! 


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